[    / 


Oh  s^ 


HISTORY 


OLD   SOUTH   CHURCH 


OF    BOSTON. 


Words  pass  as  wind  ;  but  where  great  deeds  were  done, 
The  power  abides,  transfused  from  sire  to  son."  —  Lowell. 


BOSTON  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS, 


PUBLISHED 

FOR    THE    BENEFIT    OF    THE    OLD    SOUTH    FUND. 

1876. 


5 1014 


' 


PREFACE. 


This  little  sketch  claims  simply  to  be  a  compilation.  It  has  been 
written  to  supply  an  immediate  need,  and  has  drawn  its  material  from 
many  sources.  Dr.  Wisner's  sermons  and  Gen.  Quincy's  eloquent  speech 
before  the  Massachusetts  legislature  have  furnished  the  early  history; 
and  the  events  of  Revolutionary  interest  have  been  drawn  chiefly  from 
the  papers  of  the  day  or  the  lives  of  the  prominent  actors. 

At  some  future  time  a  larger  volume  will  be  issued,  suitably  prepared 
and  copiously  illustrated,  which  shall  be  more  worthy  of  the  subject  of 
which  it  treats. 

November,  1876.  ]   $    • 


THE  HISTORY 


OLD   SOUTH  CHURCH. 


FOUNDATION  AND   EARLY  HISTORY. 


Few  spots  in  this  New  World  of  ours  are  rendered  vener- 
able by  so  long  a  line  of  associations  as  is  the  Old  South 
Church. 

The  very  land  upon  which  it  stands  was  the  dwelling- 
place  of  Gov.  Winthrop,  the  scene  of  the  earliest  struggles 
of  the  colony  upon  this  barren  coast.  Here  in  the  Old 
South  Church  has  Thatcher  preached  and  Dudley  worshipped ; 
[here  Franklin  was  baptized ;  and  here,  in  later  days,  the 
eloquence  of  Adams,  of  Quincy,  and  of  Warren,  kindled 
the  flame  which  fired  the  Revolution.  Within  its  walls 
were  won  our  earliest  victories.  Before  its  voice  the  proud- 
est emissaries  of  the  British  crown  wavered  and  trembled. 
At  its  word  Massachusetts  men  were  delivered  from  impress, 
and  the  haughty  commander  of  his  majesty's  man-of-war 
yielded  in  awed  submission.  Governor  and  military  bowed 
alike  before  the  mandates  from  the  Old  South  Church ;  and 
at  its  command  King  George's  troops  retreated  from  Boston 
soil.  Its  very  name  became  a  watchword,  a  cry  of  peril, 
and  a  war-blast  of  defiancej 

From  the  family  of  Gov.  Winthrop  the  estate  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  revered  John  Norton,  a  preacher  dearly 
loved  and  highly  honored  throughout  the  province,  and  from 


2 

him  to  the  Mary  Norton  whose  name  has  become  so  familiar 
to  our  ears. 

It  was  a  time  of  much  excitement  in  the  religious  world 
of  Boston ;  and  the  "  religious  world,"  in  those  days,  was 
very  different  from  what  it  is  in  ours.  Free  will  was  the 
favorite  topic  of  society,  and  the  "  Subjects  of  Baptism  " 
a  rock  of  dissension  which  estranged  the  nearest  friends. 
Church  and  State  were  as  intimately  connected  as  ever  in 
Spain  or  Italy.  No  man  was  a  citizen  in  Massachusetts  un- 
less he  was  likewise  a  church-member.  A  large  class  of  the 
community  thus  found  itself  disfranchised,  and  incapable  of 
holding  any  office,  although  subject  to  taxation,  impress, 
and  all  other  public  burdens.  Since  no  man  could  become 
a  church-member  except  through  the  gates  of  baptism,  it 
became  a  very  serious  question  who  should  be  held  entitled 
to  that  rite.  Churches  differed  greatly  in  their  regulations, 
especially  as  to  the  admission  of  the  children  of  church- 
members  without  any  personal  experience  of  religion ;  and 
the  First  Church  in  Boston  exacted  the  full  letter  of  the 
ancient  law.  The  more  liberal  spirits  of  the  parish  rebelled  ; 
and,  in  1669,  this  dissenting  minority  seceded  from  the  church 
whose  tenets  they  disapproved. 

Mary  Norton,  widow  of  the  former  pastor,  was  of  the 
number ;  and,  in  the  following  April,  she  deeded  to  the  use 
of  the  new  society  a  portion  of  her  garden,  on  which  to 
place  a  meeting-house  for  the  preaching  of  a  broader  faith. 

Great  was  the  indignation  of  their  comrades  at  the  outset ; 
and  the  seceders  were  even  refused  those  letters  of  dismis- 
sion necessary  to  enable  them  to  become  members  of  another 
church.  A  council  was  even  called  together  lest  "  a  sudden 
tumult  should  arise."  The  ground  for  this  fear  was  publicly 
proclaimed.  "  Some  persons,"  it  was  declared,  "  were  attempt? 
ing  to  set  up  an  edifice  for  public  worship  which  was  appre- 
hended by  the  authorities  to  be  detrimental  to  the  public 
peace."  The  council,  however,  saw  no  cause  for  serious 
alarm,  and  the  meeting-house  on  Madam  Norton's  garden 
was  suffered  to  proceed.     From  its  situation,  it  was  known 


3 

as  the  South  Church,  until,  in  1717,  on  the  erection  of 
the  New  South  on  Summer  Street,  it  received  its  present 
name. 

Fourteen  years  elapsed  before  the  mother  church  forgave 
her  wandering  children ;  but,  in  1682,  aggressions  from 
abroad  called  for  united  defence.  In  face  of  the  proposal 
that  ministers  from  England  should  be  brought  over  and 
supported  by  contributions  from  congregations  here,  there 
seemed  need  for  union  in  the  Puritan  ranks.  Therefore, 
at  a  meeting  of  the  First  Church,  it  was  agreed  that  a  pro- 
posal to  "  forget  and  forgive  all  past  offences  "  should  be  sent 
to  the  upstart  congregation,  and  that  "  thenceforward  the  two 
societies  should  live  together  in  peace."  The  Third  Church 
gladly  acceded,  and  both  societies  kept  a  solemn  day  to- 
gether, when,  lamenting  their  former  contentions,  they  gave 
thanks  to  the  great  Peacemaker  for  effecting  this  joyful 
reconciliation.  The  union  was  none  too  soon  ;  for,  in  1685,  the 
charter  of  the  colony  was  repealed,  and  the  very  next  day 
a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England  petitioned  for  the 
use  of  one  of  the  Congregational  meeting-houses.  This  re- 
quest was  refused,  and  he  was  granted  the  east  end  of  the 
Town  House  until  those  who  desired  his  ministrations  should 
furnish  him  with  better  accomodations.  But  in  December 
following  arrived  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  the  most  tyrannical 
ruler  ever  sent  from  England  to  oppress  the  colonies.  One 
of  his  first  acts  was  to  intimate  to  the  ministers  of  the  town, 
that  he  and  his  retinue  desired  the  use  of  one  of  the  churches, 
for  the  English  services.  When  the  ministers  replied  that 
they  could  not  conscientiously  accede  to  his  demand,  he  sent 
for  the  keys  of  the  South  Meeting-house.  They  were  re- 
fused ;  and  a  deputation  of  the  society  waited  upon  his  ex- 
cellency to  remonstrate.  Two  days  later,  being  Good  Friday, 
he  sent  a  peremptory  command  to  the  sexton,  "  Goodman 
Needham,"  to  open  the  doors  and  ring  the  bell ;  and  Need- 
ham  was  frightened  into  compliance.  The  service  for  the 
day  was  held  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land ;  and,  on  the  next  Sunday,  the  governor  and  his  suite 


again  took  possession,  notifying  the  pastor  that  he  and  his 
congregation  might  come  at  half  past  one.  At  that  time 
the  society  assembled,  but  were  kept  standing  for  an  hour  in 
the  street.  After  this,  the  governor  and  his  retinue  used 
the  church  whenever  it  suited  his  excellency's  convenience, 
arbitrarily  changing  their  hours,  to  the  great  annoyance  of 
the  congregation. 

In  1711,  the  South  Church  had  an  opportunity  to  prove 
the  sincerity  of  its  reconciliation  with  its  mother  church ; 
for  in  that  year  occurred  one  of  the  great  fires  of  Boston, 
and  the  meeting-house  of  the  First  Church  was  destroyed. 
The  South  Church  not  only  unanimously  offered  its  building 
for  the  use  of  both  congregations,  but  also  proposed  that 
service  should  be  performed  half  the  time  by  the  ministers 
of  the  First  Church,  who  should  receive  from  the  deacons 
of  the  South  Church  the  same  weekly  allowance  that  was 
granted  to  their  own  pastor. 

In  1727,  the  congregation  had  so  greatly  increased  that  it 
was  necessary  to  enlarge  or  to  rebuild  the  meeting-house ; 
and  after  much  discussion  it  was  decided  to  rebuild. 

So  serious  was  the  step  considered,  that,  before  the  dem- 
olition of  the  ancient  edifice,  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer 
was  observed  by  the  entire  congregation.  On  the  Sunday 
following,  farewell  sermons  were  preached  before  crowded 
assemblies ;  and  on  Monday  the  clergyman,  Mr.  Sewall, 
prayed  with  the  workmen  as  they  began  taking  down  the 
church. 

The  new  building  was  completed  in  April,  1730,  and  is 
the  edifice  so  well  known  to-day.  From  its  pulpit,  on  the 
twenty-sixth,  Mr.  Sewall  gave  forth  the  prophetic  text, — 

"And  the  glory  of  this  latter  house  shall  be 
greater  than  the  glory  of  the  former,  saith  the 
Lord  of  Hosts." 

The  worthy  preacher  spoke  more  truly  than  he  knew, 
when  thus  he  consecrated  the  walls  which,  in  the  coming 


generation,  were  to  be  honored  above  all  other  churches,  and 
crowned  as  the  "Sanctuary  of  Freedom." 

Richly  indeed  did  she  deserve  the  title.  In  the  struggles 
which  preceded  the  Revolution,  this  church  became  the 
scene  of  all  those  great  uprisings  which  ended  in  our  Inde- 
pendence. When  Boston  proudly  claims  the  honor  of  being 
the  birthplace  of  the  Revolution,  she  will  remember  always 
how  it  was  fostered  in  the  Old  South  Church,  whose  history 
is  indeed  the  very  history  of  Boston. 


THE   OLD   SOUTH  PROHIBITS  THE  IMPRESS  OF 
MASSACHUSETTS   CITIZENS. 


At  all  times  of  great  excitement,  when  the  concourse 
became  too  great  for  Faneuil  Hall,  the  people  adjourned  to 
the  Old  South  Meeting-house ;  and  hence  it  became  the 
scene  of  all  the  most  animated  of  those  town-meetings 
which  Avere  the  abomination  of  the  British.  Very  stormy 
indeed  were  these  meetings,  and  so  widespread  was  their  fame, 
that  Burke,  to  image  a  most  unusual  tumult  in  the  English 
Parliament,  declares  it  was  "  as  hot  as  Faneuil  Hall  or  the 
Old  South  Church  in  Boston." 

The  first  of  these  many  meetings  which  has  left  its  record, 
was  in  the  early  summer  of  '68.  Ever  since  the  accession 
of  George  III.,  eight  years  before,  resistance  had  been 
ripening  in  the  colonies.  The  Writs  of  Assistance  and  the 
Stamp  Act  had  resulted  in  the  triumph  of  their  opponents ; 
but  one  oppressive  measure  had  been  repealed,  only  to 
give  place  to  the  same  pretentions,  disguised  under  a  differ- 
ent dress.  Now,  for  the  first  time,  armed  force  had  been 
resorted  to.  General  Gage  was  ordered  to  station  a  regi- 
ment permanently  in  Boston,  and  vessels  of  war  were  sent 
to  occupy  the  harbor.  In  accordance  with  these  measures, 
the  "  Romney,"  a  ship  of  fifty  guns,  sailed  into  Boston  Bay. 
Scarcely  had  she  cast  anchor,  when  several  of  her  men 
deserted.  The  commander,  Capt.  Corner,  impressed  New- 
England  seamen  to  fill  their  places.  Great  was  the  indig- 
nation aroused  by  such  proceedings ;  and  the  excitement 
was  not  diminished  by  the  news,  that,  on  his  way  from 
Halifax,  he  had  already  seized  several  sailors  from  colonial 
merchantmen  at  sea.     The  captain  was  immediately  visited 


by  a  deputation  of  the  citizens ;  but  no  redress  being  ob- 
tained, one  of  the  captives  was  rescued.  Although  the 
offer  of  a  substitute  was  made,  the  captain  stormed  with 
anger  against  the  town.  "  No  man,"  he  said,  "  shall  go  out 
of  this  vessel.  The  town  is  a  blackguard  town,  ruled  by 
mobs.  They  have  begun  with  me  by  rescuing  a  man  whom 
I  pressed  this  morning ;  and,  by  the  Eternal  God,  I  will 
make  their  hearts  ache  before  I  leave  !  " 

Next  day,  a  placard  was  posted  about  the  town,  calling  on 
the  Sons  of  Liberty  to  assemble  at  Liberty  Hall,  a  name 
given  to  the  space  around  the  Liberty  Tree.  The  day  proved 
rainy  ;  yet  so  many  people  flocked  into  Boston  from  the 
neighboring  towns,  that  there  was  a  larger  assemblage  than 
had  ever  yet  been  seen  in  town.  The  recent  seizure  of 
Hancock's  sloop,  the  "  Liberty,"  had  enraged  the  people  to 
the  utmost ;  and  both  the  name  of  the  vessel  and  the  popu- 
larity of  her  owner  added  fuel  to  the  flames.  Only  the 
expectation  of  this  meeting  had  kept  the  town  in  peace 
during  the  preceding  night.  As  the  call  had  been  informal, 
and  doubts  were  expressed  whether  this  could  be  held  as  a 
legal  town-meeting,  it  was  resolved  to  adjourn  till  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon ;  and,  accordingly,  the  selectmen 
issued  the  accustomed  warrants.  Meantime,  the  governor, 
at  his  country-seat  in  Jamaica  Plain,  received  such  startling 
tidings  from  his  friends  of  the  doings  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty, 
that  he  sent  one  of  his  own  sons  into  town  to  summon  the 
lieutenant-governor,  Hutchinson,  in  the  expectation  that 
the  news  might  be  such  as  to  oblige  him  to  withdraw  to  the 
castle. 

Faneuil  Hall,  at  three  o'clock,  proved  far  too  small  to  con- 
tain the  people  who  assembled,  and  the  meeting  adjourned 
to  the  Old  South  Church.  James  Otis  was  chosen  moderator. 
Since  his  argument  against  the  Writs  of  Assistance,  he  had 
been  the  popular  idol;  and  he  was  received  with  loud 
applause. 

Otis  addressed  the  people,  strongly  recommending  the 
preservation  of  order,  and  expressing  the  hope  that  their 


8 

grievances  might  in  time  be  redressed.  "If  not,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  and  we  are  called  to  defend  our  liberties,  I  trust 
we  shall  resist,  even  unto  blood." 

Such  was  the  first  bold  presage  which  rang  through  the 
Old  South  Church. 

The  following  petition  was  drawn  up,  and  submitted  to 
the  meeting :  — 

Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 

To  His  Excellency  FRANCIS  BERNARD,  Esq.,  Governor  and  Com- 
mander-in-Chief in  and  over  said  Province,  and  Vice- Admiral  of  same. 

The  Inhabitants  of  the  Town  of  Boston,  in  Town  Meeting  legally 
assembled, 

Humbly  shew:  — 

That  your  Petitioners  consider  the  British  Constitution  as  the  basis  of 
their  safety  and  happiness.  By  that,  is  established,  no  man  shall  be 
governed  by  laws,  nor  taxed,  but  by  himself,  or  representative  legally  and 
fairly  chosen,  and  to  which  he  does  not  give  his  own  consent.  In  open 
violation  of  these  rights  of  Britons,  laws  and  taxes  are  imposed  on  us, 
to  which  we  only  have  not  given  our  consent,  but  against  which  we  have 
most  firmly  remonstrated.  Dutiful  petitions  have  been  preferred  to  our 
most  gracious  Sovereign,  which  (tho',  to  the  great  consternation  of  the 
people,  we  now  learn  have  been  cruelly  and  insidiously  prevented  reach- 
ing the  Royal  Presence)  we  have  waited  to  receive  a  gracious  answer  to, 
with  the  greatest  attention  to  public  peace,  until  we  find  ourselves 
invaded  with  an  armed  force,  seizing,  impressing,  and  imprisoning  the 
persons  of  our  fellow-subjects,  contrary  to  express  Acts  of  Parliament. 

Menaces  have  been  thrown  out,  fit  only  for  Barbarians,  which  already 
affect  us  in  the  most  sensible  manner,  and  threaten  us  with  famine  and 
desolation,  as  all  navigation  is  obstructed,  upon  which  alone  our  whole 
support  depends ;  and  the  town  is  at  this  crisis  in  a  situation  nearly  such 
as  if  war  was  formally  declared  against  us. 

To  contend  with  our  parent  state  is,  in  our  idea,  the  most  shocking  and 
dreadful  extremity ;  but  tamely  to  relinquish  the  only  security  we  and 
our  posterity  retain  of  the  enjoyment  of  our  lives  and  properties  without 
one  struggle,  is  so  humiliating  and  base,  that  we  cannot  support  the 
reflection.  We  apprehend,  Sir,  that  it  is  at  your  option,  in  your  power, 
and,  we  would  hope,  in  your  inclination,  to  prevent  this  distressed  and 
justly  incensed  people  from  effecting  too  much,  and  from  the  shame  and 
reproach  of  attempting  too  little. 

As  the  Board  of  Customs  have  tho't  fit,  of  their  own  motion,  to 
relinquish  the  exercise  of  their  commission  here,  and,  as  we  cannot  but 


9 

hope  that,  being  convinced  of  the  impropriety  and  injustice  of  the 
appointment  of  a  Board  with  such  enormous  powers,  and  the  inevitable 
destruction  which  would  ensue  from  the  exercise  of  their  office,  will 
never  reassume  it,  we  flatter  ourselves  that  your  Excellency  will,  in 
tenderness  to  this  people,  use  the  best  means  in  your  power  to  remove 
the  other  grievance  we  so  justly  complain  of,  and  issue  your  immediate 
order  to  the  commander  of  His  Majesty's  ship  "  Romney,"  to  remove 
from  this  harbour  till  we  shall  be  ascertained  of  the  success  of  our  appli- 
cations. 

And  your  Petitioners,  as  in  duty  bound,  &c. 

A  committee  was  now  appointed,  consisting  of  John  Rowe, 
Hancock,  and  Warren,  to  ascertain  when  the  governor  would 
receive  the  petition ;  and,  on  their  reporting  that  he  was  at 
his  country-seat,  a  committee  of  twenty-one,  headed  by  Sam- 
uel Adams,  were  directed  to  wait  on  him  immediately.  Reso- 
lutions were  also  passed,  expressing  the  general  feeling  that 
was  excited  by  the  removal  of  the  "  Liberty"  from  Hancock's 
Wharf,  and  characterizing  the  ill  consequences  that  would 
follow  the  introduction  of  the  troops  into  Boston.  Otis,  in 
adjourning  the  meeting  until  the  next  day,  earnestly  enjoined 
an  adherence  to  peace  and  order. 

That  afternoon,  over  Boston  Neck,  set  out  a  train  of 
eleven  chaises,  single  file,  in  slow  procession,  and  drew  up 
before  his  excellency's  door.  The  reports  of  the  morning's 
transactions,  that  had  been  carried  to  the  governor  at  Jamaica 
Plain,  had  strengthened  his  opinion  that  an  insurrection  was 
at  hand  ;  and,  as  he  was  awaiting  in  the  afternoon  the  arrival 
of  Hutchinson,  he  must  have  been  surprised  to  see  upon  the 
road  moving  towards  his  house,  not  a  noisy  populace,  pell- 
mell,  flourishing  pikes  and  liberty-caps,  but  a  train  of  eleven 
chaises,  from  which  alighted  at  his  door  the  respectable  com- 
mittee from  the  Old  South,  among  whom  were  even  several 
of  his  own  council.  "  I  received  them,"  Bernard  says, 
"  with  all  possible  civility ;  and  having  heard  their  petition, 
I  talked  very  freely  with  them,  but  postponed  giving  a  for- 
mal answer  till  the  next  day,  as  it  should  be  in  writing. 
I  then  had  wine  handed  round;  and  they  left  me  highly 


10 

pleased  with  their  reception,  especially  that  part  of  them 
which  had  not  been  used  to  an  interview  with  me."  Those 
more  accustomed  to  his  excellency's  power  of  dissimula- 
tion were  doubtless  somewhat  prepared  for  his  refusal 
next  morning  to  withdraw  the  "  Romney  "  from  the  harbor. 
So  impressed  was  Capt.  Corner,  however,  by  the  deliberate 
voice  of  a  determined  people,  expressed  in  so  orderly  a  man- 
ner, that  he  gave  public  notice  that  he  would  not  impress 
"  any  man  belonging  to  Massachusetts,  or  married  in  the 
Province,  nor  any  employed  in  trading  along  the  shore  or 
to  the  neighboring  colonies." 

This,  at  least,  was  a  decided  concession  to  the  enterprise 
and  determination  of  a  Boston  town-meeting. 


11 


THE  BOSTON  MASSACRE. 

a 

The  occasion  oftenest  celebrated  in  the  Old  South  Church, 
whose  annual  commemoration  contributed  so  much  to  kindle 
the  people  of  the  town  against  their  oppressors,  was  the 
famous  Boston  Massacre^)  Familiar  as  is  the  name  to  every 
American  ear,  few  even  of  the  Bostonians  are  equally  famil- 
iar with  the  transaction ;  and,  since  its  commemoration 
became  so  inseparably  interwoven  with  the  history  of  the 
Old  South  Churchy  it  seems  of  interest  in  this  little  sketch 
to  give  such  particulars  of  the  fray  as  may  add  vividness  to 
future  pictures. 

The  22d  of  February,  1770,  was  kept  with  no  such 
rejoicings  as  greet  our  ears  to-day.  The  city  was  in  mourn- 
ing. The  first  martyr  in  the  cause  of  liberty  had  fallen. 
Christopher  Snider,  a  boy  of  only  eleven,  had  been  shot  by 
an  enraged  informer,  goaded  on  to  the  act  by  the  revilings 
which  followed  his  attempt  to  destroy  a  figure-head  erected 
by  the  people.  The  "informer "  retreated  into  his  house, 
whence  he  fired  on  the  crowd ;  and  little  Christopher  was  the 
victim. 

All  "  Friends  of  Liberty "  were  invited  to  attend  the 
funeral.  "  Young  as  he  was,  he  died  for  his  country,"  was 
the  declaration,  "  by  the  hand  of  one  directed  by  others  who 
could  not  bear  to  see  the  enemies  of  America  made  the  ridi- 
cule of  boys."  On  Monday,  the  twenty-sixth,  his  funeral 
took  place.  The  little  corpse  was  set  down  under  the  Tree 
of  Liberty,  from  which  the  procession  set  forth.  Four  or  five 
hundred  schoolboys  walked  before  the  coffin,  the  relations 
followed,  and  after  them  thirteen  hundred  of  the  inhabitants 


12 

on  foot.  A  more  imposing  spectacle  could  scarcely  have 
been  devised,  or  one  better  adapted  to  produce  a  lasting  im- 
pression on  the  hearts  of  the  spectators.  The  morning 
papers  of  the  fifth  of  March,  which  told  of  the  occasion, 
gave  also  several  accounts  of  quarrels  between  the  inhabi- 
tants and  the  soldiery.  . 

There  had  been  a  fall  of  snow  during  the  day  ;  but  as  night 
approached,  the  sky  was  clear,  and  the  moon,  in  its  first 
quarter,  lighted  the  frosted  streets.  Many  people  were 
abroad  in  clusters,  as  though  expecting  some  unusual  event. 
Parties  of  soldiers  were  passing  through  the  streets,  —  an 
unusual  thing  at  that  hour,  when  they  ought  to  have  been 
confined  to  the  barracks.  As  they  hurried  along,  some  of 
them  struck  the  inhabitants  indiscriminately  with  their 
sheathed  cutlasses,  and  seemed  anxious  to  provoke  an  affray. 
There  were,  at  this  time,  two  regiments  in  Boston,  —  the 
Fourteenth  (quartered  in  Brattle  Street)  and  the  Twenty- 
ninth  (in  Water  Street). 

A  sentinel  had  been  stationed  in  Boylston  Alley,  which 
led  into  Market  Street  from  Murray's  Barracks,  where  the 
Fourteenth  were  quartered.  Three  or  four  young  men,  de- 
siring to  go  through  this  passage  about  nine  o'clock,  observed 
the  sentinel  brandishing  his  sword  against  the  wall  and 
striking  fire  for  his  own  amusement.  They  offered  to  pass 
him,  and  were  challenged,  but  persisted  in  their  attempt ; 
and  one  of  them  received  a  slight  wound  on  the  head.  The 
bustle  of  this  rencounter  drew  together  all  those  who  were 
passing  by,  and  fifteen  or  twenty  people  thronged  the  alley ; 
and  thirty  or  forty  more,  gathered  in  Dock  Square,  were 
attempting  to  force  their  way  to  the  barracks  through  Brat- 
tle Street,  which  was,  at  that  time,  so  narrow  that  a  carriage 
could  with  difficulty  pass.  Several  soldiers  ran  down  Boyl- 
ston Alley,  assailing  spectators  in  the  doorways,  and  threat- 
ening their  lives.  The  bystanders  ran  to  the  Old  Brick 
Meeting-house,  which  stood  near  the  head  of  State  Street, 
and  lifted  a  boy  into  the  window  to  ring  the  bell.  People 
came  rushing  to  the  scene,  many  of  them  calling  "  Fire !  " 


13 

and  carrying  buckets,  expecting  a  serious  conflagration. 
Ensign  Mall,  at  the  gate  of  the  barrack  yard,  urged  the  sol- 
diers forward.  .'"  Turn  out,"  he  cried,  "  I  will  stand  by  you ! 
Kill  them  !  Stick  them  !  v  Knock  them  down !  Run  your 
bayonets  through  them ! ")  One  soldier,  kneeling  down, 
aimed  his  musket,  and  waC only  prevented  from  firing  by  a 
lieutenant  standing  near,  who  interfered,  and  pushed  him  to 
the  barracks.  "  Where  are  the  daAned  cowards?  Where 
are  your  Liberty  Boys  ?  "  was  the  cry.  "  Where  are  they  ? 
Cut  them  to  pieces  !  "  These  and  other  such  exclamations 
roused  the  towns-people  to  desperation. 

A  barber's  apprentice,  observing  Capt.  Goldfinch  crossing, 
called  out,  "  There  goes  a  fellow  who  has  not  paid  my  mas- 
ter's bill !  "  The  sentinel  at  the  Custom  House  left  his  place, 
crying,  "  Show  your  face  !  "  —  "I  am  not  ashamed  to  show 
my  face  to  any  man,"  answered  the  boy;  and  the  soldier 
gave  him  a  sweeping  blow  with  his  musket. 

"Do  you  intend  to  murder  people?"  exclaimed  a  by-- 
stander.  "  Yes,  by  God,  root  and  branch ! "  shouted  a 
soldier,  sealing  his  oath  with  a  blow.  Incensed  by  such 
threats,  the  people  gathered  together  threateningly  in  Dock 
Square.  Suddenly  there  appeared  among  them  a  tall  man 
with  a  white  wig  and  a  scarlet  cloak,  to  whom  all  lent  the 
most  devout  attention.  Who  the  stranger  may  have  been 
is  still  a  mystery.  His  very  words  are  unrecorded.  We 
only  know,  that,  after  listening  to  him  for  some  moments,  the 
crowd  gave  three  cheers  and  huzzaed  for  "the  main  guard." 
The  main  guard  were  stationed  near  the  head  of  State 
Street,  directly  opposite  the  door  ^  he  south  side  of  the 
Town  House,  where  its  location  had  iong  been  very  galling 
to  the  people.  To  this  place  all  the  soldiers  detached  for 
duty  were  brought  daily,  and  from  thence  marched  to  the 
particular  posts  assigned  them.  On  this  day  the  command 
of  the  guard  had  devolved  upon  Capt.  Preston  and  Lieut. 
Bassett. 

The  citizens  who,  running  from  Dock  Square,  passed 
through   Royal    Exchange    Lane,   found  a  single    sentinel 


14 

stationed  before  the  Custom  House,  which  was  on  the  spot 
now  occupied  by  the  Union  Bank,  and  made  one  corner  of 
the  Lane,  as  the  Royal  Exchange  Tavern  did  the  other. 
As  the  crowd  ran  towards  the  sentinel,  he  retreated  to  the 
steps  of  the  house,  and  alarmed  the  inmates  by  three  or  four 
powerful  knocks  at  the  door.  Word  was  sent  to  Lieut. 
Bassett,  that  the  sentinel  was  attacked  by  the  towns-people. 
He  immediately  sent  a  message  to  his  captain,  who  instantly 
repaired  to  the  guard-house,  where  Lieut.  Bassett  informed 
him  that  he  had  just  sent  a  sergeant  and  six  men  to  assist 
the  sentry  at  the  Custom  House.  "  I  will  follow  them,"  said 
the  captain,  "  and  see  they  do  no  mischief."  He  overtook 
them  before  they  reached  the  Custom  House,  where  they 
joined  the  sentinel,  and  formed  a  half-circle  round  the  steps. 
By  this  time  the  bell  from  the  Old  Brick  Church  had  aroused 
the  people,  who  flocked  from  all  quarters  in  answer  to  the 
summons.  The  soldiers  were  soon  surrounded.  Many  of 
those  nearest  them  were  armed  with  clubs,  and  crowded 
close  upon  them.  Those  at  a  distance  began  to  throAV  sticks 
of  wood,  snowballs,  and  ice,  at  them ;  while  from  all  sides 
they  were  challenged,  "Fire!  fire,  if  you  dare!"  At  last 
they  thought  they  heard  the  order  given ;  and  they  did  fire, 
in  succession  from  left  to  right.  Two  or  three  of  the  guns 
flashed,  but  the  rest  were  fatal.  Crispus  Attucks  a  mulatto, 
and  two  others  were  killed  upon  the  spot :  three  more  were 
mortally  wounded,  and  several  seriously  wounded.  Those 
who  suffered  were  for  the  most  part  persons  passing  by 
chance,  or  quiet  spectators  of  the  scene.  Instantly  the 
alarum  was  sounded.  The  town  drums  beat,  and  the  bells 
in  the  churches  rang.  "  The  soldiers  are  rising  !  To  arms  ! 
to  arms !  "  was  the  cry.  "  Turn  out  with  your  guns !  Town- 
born,  turn  out !  " 

Two  years  later,  Warren,  in  the  Old  South  Church,  speak- 
ing to  men  who  themselves  had  witnessed  the  scene,  and 
who  now  thronged  together  to  commemorate  its  horrors,  re- 
called the  desperation  of  that  night.  "  Language,"  he  said, 
"  is  too  feeble  to  paint  the  emotion  of  our  souls  when  our 


15 

streets  were  stained  with  the  blood  of  our  brethren  ;  when 
our  ears  were  wounded  with  the  groans  of  the  dying,  and 
our  eyes  were  tormented  with  the  sight  of  the  mangled 
bodies  of  the  dead.  Our  hearts  beat  to  arms  :  we  snatched 
our  weapons,  almost  resolved,  by  one  decisive  stroke,  to 
avenge  the  deaths  of  our  slaughtered  brethren." 

Startled  by  the  clang  of  bells  and  beat  of  drums,  the  in- 
habitants flocked  around  from  every  side.  Artisans  from 
the  ship-yards,  shopmen,  gentlemen,  sailors,  men  of  all 
classes  and  avocations,  goaded  to  madness,  ran  through  the 
frozen  streets,  ready  and  eager  for  the  conflict.  But  the 
character  of  Boston  vindicated  itself,  even  in  that  awful 
hour.  "  Propitious  Heaven,"  continues  Warren,  "  forbade 
the  bloody  carnage."  Patriots  stood  firm  and  self-possessed, 
and  still  turned  for  justice  to  the  law,  before  adopting 
sterner  measures.  The  lieutenant-governor  was  called  to 
quell  the  surging  crowd.  He  appeared  at  the  window  of 
the  council-chamber,  and  besought  the  assembled  multitude 
to  hear  him  speak.  As  soon  as  silence  was  obtained,  he 
called  upon  the  people  to  disperse,  promising  to  inquire 
into  the  affair  in  the  morning,  and  that  the  law  should  take 
its  course. 

He  was  requested  to  order  the  troops  back  to  the  bar- 
racks, but  replied  that  it  was  not  in  his  power,  as  he  had  no 
command  over  the  regiments.  Such  an  assurance  from  the 
chief  magistrate  of  a  city,  in  time  of  peace,  was  scarcely 
reassuring.  A  gentleman  asked  him  to  look  out  of  the  window 
facing  the  main  guard,  and  see  the  position  of  the  soldiers. 
After  a  good  deal  of  persuasion,  his  honor  did  so,  and  saw 
that  the  troops  were  drawn  up,  apparently  ready  to  fire 
on  the  people.  He  then  desired  Col.  Carr  to  send  the 
troops  to  their  barracks  in  the  same  order  they  were  in  ;  and, 
soon  after,  they  shouldered  their  arms,  and  were  marched 
to  the  guard-room  and  barracks.  Pacified  for  the  time  by 
the  confinement  of  the  soldiers,  and  the  assurances  of  Hutch- 
inson that  instant  inquiries  should  be  made  by  the  county 
magistrate,  the  body  of  the  people  retired,  leaving  about  a 


16 

hundred  to  keep  watch  over  the  examination,  which  lasted 
until  three  o'clock.  A  warrant  was  issued  for  the  arrest  of 
Preston  ;  and  the  soldiers  concerned  in  the  firing  were  com- 
mitted to  prison. 

Early  the  next  morning,  the  selectmen  and  justices  of  the 
county  waited  upon  Hutchinson  in  the  council-chamber. 
They  assured  him  that  nothing  would  satisfy  them  but  the 
positive  orders  that  the  troops  should  be  removed  from  the 
town.  As  on  the  night  before,  Hutchinson  protested  that 
he  had  no  command  over  the  troops,  but  offered  to  send  for 
Colonels  Carr  and  Dalrymple,  and  advise  with  them  in 
council. 

Meanwhile  the  people,  at  eleven  o'clock,  had  assembled  at 
Faneuil  Hall.  A  messenger  was  despatched  to  the  council- 
chamber  to  desire  the  attendance  of  the  selectmen,  who 
were  still  awaiting  an  answer  from  the  lieutenant-governor. 
On  their  arrival,  a  formal  committee  of  fifteen  was  appointed, 
to  inform  his  honor  the  lieutenant-governor,  that  it  was  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  the  meeting,  that  the  inhabitants  and 
soldiery  could  no  longer  dwell  together  in  safety,  and  that 
bloodshed  could  only  be  averted  by  the  instant  removal 
of  the  troops.  Headed  by  Samuel  Adams,  this  committee 
immediately  proceeded  to  the  council-chamber,  and  laid  the 
demand  before  his  excellency.  Hutchinson  requested  a 
parley,  but  in  vain.  He  reminded  them  that  an  attack  on 
the  king's  troops  was  treason,  and  involved  a  forfeiture 
of  the  lives  and  estates  of  all  concerned.  The  committee 
simply  reiterated  their  demand,  and  withdrew  into  an  ad- 
joining room.  After  some  discussion  with  the  council  and 
Dalrymple,  the  governor  reported  that  he  regretted  the 
"  unhappy  differences  which  had  arisen,  but  that,  as  the 
commanding  officers  of  the  troops  received  their  orders 
from  New  York,  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  countermand 
those  orders.  Nevertheless,  Col.  Dalrymple  had  offered  to 
remove  to  the  castle  the  Twenty-ninth  regiment,  which 
had  been  especially  concerned  in  the  late  affray,  until  orders 
could  be  received  from  the  general  for  both  regiments.    The 


17 

commanding  officer  had  also  promised  that  the  main  guard 
should  be  removed,  and  the  Fourteenth  regiment  be  placed 
under  restraint. 

-At  three  o'clock  the  people  assembled  in  the  Old  South 
Meeting-house,  to  receive  the  report  of  their  committee. 
All  day  long  the  throng  had  been  pouring  into  the  town 
across  the  neck,  and  even  the  Old  South  itself  could  not 
contain  the  multitude.  The  building  was  packed  to  over- 
flowing, every  door  was  blocked,  and  the  surging  crowd 
filled  the  street,  even  back  to  the  Old  State  House. 

At  last,  from  the  council-chamber,  came  forth  the  com- 
mittee, led  by  Samuel  Adams,  his  head  bared  in  reverence 
to  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  and  his  gray  locks  floating 
in  the  wind.  "  Make  way  for  the  committee !  "  was  the 
cry,  and  the  masses  parted  on  either  side,  to  give  them  room. 
None  but  the  committee  knew  the  purport  of  the  answer ; 
and  on  that  answer  hung  the  issues  of  peace  or  war.  The 
public  indignation,  so  long  held  in  check,  was  ready  to 
burst  forth  in  one  wild  tumult  of  revenge,  a  revenge  which 
soldiers  and  citizens  alike  knew  was  within  the  power 
of  the  populous  and  determined  province.  On  reaching 
the  church,  the  committee  Avere  ushered  into  the  presence 
of  a  densely-packed  audience,  filling  the  body  of  the  edi- 
fice, and  crowding  into  all  the  galleries.  To  that  earnest 
assemblage,  Adams  read  the  response  of  the  lieutenant- 
governor.  A  moment's  silence  followed ;  and  then  the 
question  was  put  by  the  chairman,  "  Is  the  answer  satis- 
factory ?  "  An  instantaneous  "  No  !  "  was  thundered  forth, 
with  an  emphasis  which  made  the  rafters  of  the  old  meeting- 
house tremble  with  the  peal.  One  solitary  voice  responded, 
"Ay;"  and  the  circumstance  was  recorded  by  the  town- 
clerk,  that  there  was  "  one  dissentient." 

Still  the  order-loving  town  determined  on  one  last  appeal 
to  avert  the  threatening  tempest.  Samuel  Adams  and  his 
committee  were  sent  to  make  a  "final  demand"  for  the  total 
evacuation  of  the  town. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  darkness  was  coming 


18 

on.  The  council-chamber  presented  a  memorable  scene, 
such  as  that  generation  of  Americans  had  never  witnessed. 
Boston  was  then  the  centre  of  population  and  wealth,  and 
all  the  formality  and  majesty  of  government  were  there 
exhibited.  The  full  pageant  of  the  royal  authority,  civic 
and  military,  was  now  displayed.  There  sat  the  lieutenant- 
governor,  his  majesty's  representative,  at  the  head  of  the 
council-table ;  beside  him,  Col.  Dalrymple,  commander-in- 
chief  of  his  majesty's  forces,  Col.  Carr,  the  commander  of 
the  war-ship  "  Rose,"  and  eight  and  twenty  councillors  all 
in  their  long  white  wigs  and  scarlet  robes.  Before  these 
illustrious  personages  appeared  Samuel  Adams,  ambassador 
from  the  great  assembly  in  the  Old  South  Church. 

In  the  name  of  the  town  of  Boston,  Adams  addressed  the 
lieutenant-governor.  He  represented  the  state  of  the  town 
and  of  the  country,  the  dangerous,  ruinous,  and  fatal  effects 
of  standing  armies  in  populous  cities  in  time  of  peace,  and 
the  determined  resolution  of  the  public  that  the  troops 
should  be  withdrawn  from  the  town.  "  It  is  the  unanimous 
•opinion  of  the  meeting,"  continued  Adams,  "that  the  reply 
to  the  vote  of  the  inhabitants  in  the  morning  is  by  no  means 
satisfactory :  nothing  less  will  satisfy  them  than  a  total  and 
immediate  removal  of  the  troops.  Hutchinson  repeated  his 
former  statement  that  one  of  the  two  regiments  (the  Twenty- 
ninth)  should  be  removed,  adding,  as  before,  that  the  troops 
were  not  subject  to  his  authority,  and  he  had  no  power 
to  remove  them.  The  mighty  spirit  of  the  Revolution 
then  arose  in  the  countenance  of  the  "  great  incendiary." 
Drawing  himself  to  his  full  height,  and  with  a  dangerous 
flash  in  his  clear,  blue  eye,  he  stretched  forth  his  arm, 
"  which  slightly  shook  with  the  energy  of  his  soul,"  and 
gazing  steadfastly  at  the  lieutenant-governor,  he  replied, 
"If  you  have  power  to  remove  one  regimen^,  you  have 
power  to  remove  both.  It  is  at  your  peril,  if  you  refuse. 
The  meeting  is  composed  of  three  thousand  people.  They 
are  become  impatient.  A  thousand  men  are  already  arrived 
'from  the  neighborhood,  and  the  whole  country  is  in  motion. 


19 

Night  is  approaching.  An  immediate  answer  is  expected. 
Both  regiments  or  none  !  " 

The  whole  assemblage  stood  abashed  before  the  patriot. 
No  subterfuge  could  evade  the  crisis.  The  issue  was  pre- 
sented, and  a  direct  answer  was  demanded. 

The  irresolute  chief  magistrate  applied  to  his  council  for 
advice. 

"  These  men  are  no  mob,"  responded  Tyler :  "  they  are 
people  of  the  best  character  among  us,  men  of  estate,  men 
of  religion.  They  have  formed  their  plan  for  removing  the 
troops  out  of  the  town,  and  it  is  impossible  they  should  re- 
main in  it.  The  people  will  come  from  the  neighboring 
towns :  there  will  be  ten  thousand  men  to  effect  the  removal 
of  the  troops,  be  the  consequence  what  it  may." 

There  was  no  alternative,  and  the  order  for  removal  was 
given. 

The  committee  returned  to  the  anxious  assembly,  still 
waiting,  in  the  darkness,  in  the  Old  South  Church,  bearing 
the  promise  of  Col.  Dalrymple,  that  he  would  begin  the 
preparation  in  the  morning,  and  that,  without  any  unneces- 
sary delay,  the  two  regiments  should  be  removed  to  the 
castle.  A  joyous  burst  of  applause  hailed  the  announce- 
ment of  the  bloodless  victory.  That  a  repeated  refusal 
would  have  produced  immediate  bloodshed  was  evident  to 
all.  Warren,  a  few  years  later,  asserted  that  "  it  was  Royal 
George's  livery  alone  which  saved  the  soldiers  from  anni- 
hilation," and  that,  "  had  thrice  that  number  of  troops  be- 
longing to  a  hostile  power  been  in  the  town  in  the  same 
exposed  condition,  scarcely  a  man  would  have  lived  to  see 
the  morning  light." 

So  impressed  was  Lord  North  with  the  account  of  the 
scene  in  the  council-chamber,  that  he  ever  afterwards  referred 
to  the  troops  in  Boston  as  "  Sam  Adams's  regiments" 


20 


WARREN'S   FIRST   ORATION. 
Makch,  1772. 


The  fatal  calamity  of  the  fifth  of  March  was  attributed 
less  to  the  immediate  perpetrator  of  the  bloody  deed,  than 
to  the  authorities  who  had  brought  on  the  disaster  by 
introducing  an  armed  force  into  the  town  in  time  of  peace. 
Leading  patriots  interested  themselves  in  securing  justice 
for  Capt.  Preston  and  his  men.  Quincy  and  John  Adams 
conducted  their  defence  before  the  courts  ;  though  so  un- 
pleasing  was  the  task,  that  Quincy  writes,  that  he  refused, 
until  "  advised  and  urged  to  undertake  it  by  an  Adams,  a 
Hancock,  a  Molineux,  a  Cushing,  a  Henshaw,  a  Pemberton, 
a  Warren,  a  Cooper,  and  a  Phillips." 

Yet  these  same  leaders  were  determined  the  day  should 
teach  its  fullest  lesson  of  resistance.  The  town  decided  to 
have  an  annual  commemoration  of  the  massacre.  Portraits 
of  the  slain  were  exhibited  throughout  the  town,  and  even 
"Snider's  Ghost"  figured  in  the  window  of  the  Reveres'. 
The  oration  on  the  first  anniversary  was  delivered  by  James 
Lovell,  master  of  the  Latin  School,  who,  in  all  times  of 
popular  excitement,  doubtless  won  signal  favor  from  his 
boys  by  promptly  dismissing  the  school,  and  recommending 
his  pupils  to  repair  to  the  gallery  of  the  Old  South.  Lessons 
in  patriotism,  in  those  days,  took  precedence  of  Latin  Gram- 
mar ;  and  Lo veil's  pupils  in  the  Old  South  were  many  of 
them  the  men  who  fought  at  Lexington  and  Yorktown. 
Lovell's  own  oration  was  delivered  in  the  church,  and  his 
boys  doubtless  filled  their  accustomed  corner  in  the  upper 
gallery. 


21 

It  was  on  the  second  commemoration  of  the  fatal  day  that 
the  oration  was  given  by  Joseph  Warren. 

On  this  anniversary,  the  people  met  in  legal  town-meeting, 
in  Faneuil  Hall,  at  nine  o'clock,  when  Richard  Dana  was 
chosen  moderator.  It  happened  to  be  the  forenoon  of  the 
ancient  "  Thursday  Lecture  ;  "  and  the  town  voted  to  adjourn 
to  the  Old  South  at  half  past  twelve. 

"That  capacious  house,"  says  the  Gazette,  "  was  thronged 
with  a  very  respectable  assembly,  consisting  of  the  inhabi- 
tants and  many  of  the  clergy,  not  only  of  this  but  of  the 
neighboring  towns."  The  vast  concourse  were  held  spell- 
bound by  the  eloquence  of  the  language,  and  the  frank, 
noble  bearing  of  the  youthful  speaker. 

After  more  than  a  century,  that  eloquence  still  holds  its 
power.  Better  than  any  history,  those  words  transport  us 
back  to  the  days  when  liberty  meant  struggle,  and  freedom 
must  be  poverty  or  death. 


THE    ORATION. 


Quis  talia  fando, 
Myrmidonum,Dolopumve,  aut  duri  miles  Ulyssei, 
Temperet  a  lacrymis.  Vikgil. 

When  we  turn  over  the  historic  page,  and  trace  the  rise  and  fall  of 
states  and  empires,  the  mighty  revolutions  which  have  so  often  varied  the 
face  of  the  world  strike  our  minds  with  solemn  surprise ;  and  we  are 
naturally  led  to  endeavor  to  search  out  the  causes  of  such  astonishing 
changes. 

That  man  is  formed  for  social  life,  is  an  observation  which,  upon  our 
first  inquiry,  presents  itself  immediately  to  our  view;  and  our  reason 
approves  that  wise  and  generous  principle  which  actuated  the  first  found- 
ers of  civil  government,  —  an  institution  which  hath  its  origin  in  the  weak- 
ness of  individuals,  and  hath  for  its  end,  the  strength  and  security  of  all. 
And  so  long  as  the  means  of  effecting  this  important  end  are  thoroughly 
known  and  religiously  attended  to,  government  is  one  of  the  richest 
blessings  to  mankind,  and  ought  to  be  held  in  the  highest  veneration. 

In  young  and  new-formed  communities,  the  grand  design  of  this 
institution  is  most  generally  understood,  and  most  strictly  regarded.  The 
motives  which  urged  to  the  social  compact  cannot  be  at  once  forgotten ; 


22 

and  that  equality  which  is  remembered  to  have  subsisted  so  lately  among 
them,  prevents  those  who  are  clothed  with  authority  from  attempting  to 
invade  the  freedom  of  their  brethren,  or,  if  such  an  attempt  is  made,  it 
prevents  the  community  from  suffering  the  offender  to  go  unpunished. 
Every  member  feels  it  to  be  his  interest,  and  knows  it  to  be  his  duty,  to 
preserve  inviolate  the  constitution  on  which  the  public  safety  depends, 
and  is  equally  ready  to  assist  the  magistrate  in  the  execution  of  the  laws, 
and  the  subject  in  defence  of  his  right ;  and  so  long  as  this  noble  attach- 
ment to  a  constitution,  founded  on  free  and  benevolent  principles,  exists 
in  full  vigor  in  any  state,  that  state  must  be  flourishing  and  happy. 

It  was  this  noble  attachment  to  a  free  constitution,  which  raised  an- 
cient Rome,  from  the  smallest  beginnings,  to  that  bright  summit  of  hap- 
piness and  glory  to  which  she  arrived ;  and  it  was  the  loss  of  this  which 
plunged  her  from  that  summit  into  the  black  gulf  of  infamy  and  slavery. 
It  was  this  attachment  which  inspired  her  senators  with,  wisdom ;  it  was 
this  which  glowed  in  the  breasts  of  her  heroes ;  it  was  this  which  guarded 
her  liberties,  and  extended  her  dominions,  gave  peace  at  home,  and  com- 
manded respect  abroad;  and  when  this  decayed,  her  magistrates  lost 
their  reverence  for  justice  and  the  laws,  and  degenerated  into  tyrants  and 
oppressors ;  her  senators,  forgetful  of  their  dignity,  and  seduced  by  base 
corruption,  betrayed  their  country ;  her  soldiers,  regardless  of  their  rela- 
tion to  the  community,  and  urged  only  by  the  hopes  of  plunder  and 
rapine,  unfeelingly  committed  the  most  flagrant  enormities;  and,  hired 
to  the  trade  of  death,  with  relentless  fury  they  perpetrated  the  most 
cruel  murders,  whereby  the  streets  of  imperial  Rome  were  drenched 
with  her  noblest  blood.  Thus  this  empress  of  the  world  lost  her 
dominions  abroad,  and  her  inhabitants,  dissolute  in  their  manners,  at 
length  became  contented  slaves;  and  she  stands,  to  this  day,  the  scorn 
and  derision  of  nations,  and  a  monument  of  this  eternal  truth,  that 
public  happiness  depends  on  a  virtuous  and  unshaken  attachment  to  a  free 
constitution. 

It  was  this  attachment  to  a  constitution  founded  on  free  and  benev- 
olent principles,  which  inspired  the  first  settlers  of  this  country.  They 
saw  with  grief  the  daring  outrages  committed  on  the  free  constitution  of 
their  native  land :  they  knew  that  nothing  but  a  civil  war  could  at  that 
time  restore  its  pristine  purity.  So  hard  was  it  to  resolve  to  imbrue  their 
hands  in  the  blood  of  their  brethren,  that  they  chose  rather  to  quit  their 
fair  possessions,  and  seek  another  habitation  in  a  distant  clime.  When 
they  came  to  this  new  world,  which  they  fairly  purchased  of  the  Indian 
natives,  the  only  rightful  proprietors,  they  cultivated  the  then  barren  soil 
by  their  incessant  labor,  and  defended  their  dear-bought  possessions  with 
the  fortitude  of  the  Christian,  and  the  bravery  of  the  hero. 

After  various  struggles,  which,  during  the  tyrannic  reigns  of  the  house 
of  Stuart,  were  constantly  kept  up  between  right  and  wrong,  between 


23 

liberty  and  slavery,  the  connection  between  Great  Britain  and  this  colony 
was  settled,  in  the  reign  of  King  William  and  Queen  Mary,  by  a  compact, 
the  conditions  of  which  were  expressed  in  a  charter,  by  which  all  the 
liberties  and  immunities  of  British  subjects  were  confined  to  this  pro- 
vince as  fully  and  as  absolutely  as  they  possibly  could  be  by  any  human 
instrument  which  can  be  devised.  And  it  is  undeniably  true,  that  the 
greatest  and  most  important  right  of  a  British  subject  is,  that  he  shall  be 
governed  by  no  laws  but  those  to  which  he,  either  in  person  or  by  his  represen- 
tative, hath  given  his  consent.  And  this,  T  will  venture  to  assert,  is  the  grand 
basis  of  British  freedom.  It  is  inverwoven  with  the  constitution;  and 
whenever  this  is  lost,  the  constitution  must  be  destroyed. 

The  British  constitution  (of  which  ours  is  a  copy)  is  a  happy  compound 
of  the  three  forms,  under  some  of  which  all  governments  may  be  ranged, 
viz.,  monarchy,  aristocracy,  and  democracy.  Of  these  three  the  British 
legislature  is 'composed;  and  without  the  consent  of  each  branch,  nothing 
can  carry  with  it  the  force  of  a  law.  But  when  a  law  is  to  be  passed  for 
raising  a  tax,  that  law  can  originate  only  in  the  democratic  branch,  which 
is  the  House  of  Commons  in  Britain,  and  the  House  of  Representatives 
here.  The  reason  is  obvious :  they  and  their  constituents  are  to  pay 
much  the  largest  part  of  it.  But  as  the  aristocratic  branch,  which  in 
Britain,  is  the  House  of  Lords,  and  in  this  province,  the  council,  are  also 
to  pay  some  part,  their  consent  is  necessary ;  and  as  the  monarchic  branch, 
which  in  Britain  is  the  king,  and  with  us,  either  the  king  in  person,  or 
the  governor  whom  he  shall  be  pleased  to  appoint  to  act  in  his  stead,  is 
supposed  to  have  a  just  sense  of  his  own  interest,  which  is  that  of  all 
the  subjects  in  general,  his  consent  is  also  necessary ;  and  when  the  con- 
sent of  these  three  branches  is  obtained,  the  taxation  is  most  certainly 
legal. 

Let  us  now  allow  ourselves  a  few  moments  to  examine  the  late  acts  of 
the  British  parliament  for  taxing  America.  Let  us  with  candor  judge 
whether  they  are  constitutionally  binding  upon  us :  if  they  are,  in  the 
name  of  justice  let  us  submit  to  them,  without  one  murmuring  word. 

First,  I  would  ask  whether  the  members  of  the  British  House  of  Com- 
mons are  the  democracy  of  this  province  ?  If  they  are,  they  are  either 
the  people  of  this  province,  or  are  elected  by  the  people  of  this  province 
to  represent  them,  and  have  therefore  a  constitutional  right  to  originate 
a  bill  for  taxing  them.  It  is  most  certain  they  are  neither  ;  and  therefore 
nothing  done  by  them  can  be  said  to  be  done  by  the  democratic  branch 
of  our  constitution.  I  would  next  ask,  whether  the  Lords,  who  compose 
the  aristocratic  branch  of  the  legislature,  are  peers  of  America?  I  never 
heard  it  was  (even  in  these  extraordinary  times)  so  much  as  pretended ; 
and  if  they  are  not,  certainly  no  act  of  theirs  can  be  said  to  be  the  act  of 
the  aristocratic  branch  of  our  constitution.  The  power  of  the  monarchic 
branch,  we  with  pleasure  acknowledge,  resides  in  the  king,  who  may  act 


24 

either  in  person  or  by  his  representative ;  and  I  freely  confess  that  I  can 
see  no  reason  why  a  proclamation  for  raising  money  in  America,  issued 
by  the  king's  sole  authority,  would  not  be  equally  consistent  with  our 
own  constitution,  and  therefore  equally  binding  upon  us,  with  the  late  acts 
of  the  British  parliament  for  taxing  us,  for  it  is  plain,  that  if  there  is  any 
validity  in  those  acts,  it  must  arise  altogether  from  the  monarchical 
branch  of  the  legislature.  And  I  further  think  that  it  would  be  at  least  as 
equitable  ;  for  I  do  not  conceive  it  to  be  of  the  least  importance  to  us  by 
whom  our  property  is  taken  away,  so  long  as  it  is  taken  without  our  con- 
sent. And  I  am  very  much  at  a  loss  to  know  by  what  figure  of  rhetoric 
the  inhabitants  of  this  province  can  be  called  free  subjects,  when  they  are 
obliged  to  obey  implicitly  such  laws  as  are  made  for  them  by  men  three 
thousand  miles  off,  whom  they  know  not,  and  whom  they  never  have 
empowered  to  act  for  them ;  or  how  they  can  be  said  to  have  property, 
when  a  body  of  men  over  whom  they  have  not  the  least  control,  and  who 
are  not  in  any  way  accountable  to  them,  shall  oblige  them  to  deliver  up 
any  part,  or  the  whole  of  their  substance,  without  even  asking  their  con- 
sent. And  yet  whoever  pretends  that  the  late  acts  of  the  British  parlia- 
ment for  taxing  America  ought  to  be  deemed  binding  upon  us,  must 
admit  at  once  that  we  are  absolute  slaves,  and  have  no  property  of  our 
own ;  or  else  that  we  may  be  freemen,  and  at  the  same  time  under  a 
necessity  of  obeying  the  arbitrary  commands  of  those  over  whom  we 
have  no  control  or  influence ;  and  that  we  may  have  property  of  our  own, 
which  is  entirely  at  the  disposal  of  another.  Such  gross  absurdities,  I 
believe,  will  not  be  relished  in  this  enlightened  age ;  and  it  can  be  no 
matter  of  wonder  that  the  people  quickly  perceived  and  seriously  com- 
plained of  the  inroads  which  these  acts  must  unavoidably  make  upon 
their  liberty,  and  of  the  hazard  to  which  their  whole  property  is  by  them 
exposed ;  for,  if  they  may  be  taxed  without  their  consent,  even  in  the 
smallest  trifle,  they  may  also,  without  their  consent,  be  deprived  of  every- 
thing they  possess,  although  never  so  valuable,  never  so  dear.  Certainly 
it  never  entered  the  hearts  of  our  ancestors,  that,  after  so  many  dangers 
in  this  then  desolate  wilderness,  their  hard-earned  property  should  be  at 
the  disposal  of  the  British  parliament;  and  as  it  was  soon  found  that  this 
taxation  could  not  be  supported  by  reason  and  argument,  it  seemed 
necessary  that  one  act  of  oppression  should  be  enforced  by  another. 
And  therefore,  contrary  to  our  just  rights,  as  possessing,  or  at  least 
having  a  just  title  to  possess,  all  the  liberties  and  immunities  of  British 
subjects,  a  standing  army  was  established  among  us  in  a  time  of  peace; 
and  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  that,  which  it  was  one  principal 
design  of  the  founders  of  the  constitution  to  prevent  (when  they  de- 
clared a  standing  army  in  a  time  of  peace  to  be  against  law),  namely, 
for  the  enforcement  of  obedience  to  acts  which,  upon  fair  examination, 
appeared  to  be  unjust  and  unconstitutional. 


25 

The  ruinous  consequences  of  standing  armies  to  free  communities,  may 
be  seen  in  the  histories  of  Syracuse,  Rome,  and  many  other  once  flour- 
ishing* states,  some  of  which  have  now  scarce  a  name.  Their  baneful 
influence  is  most  suddenly  felt  when  they  are  placed  in  populous  cities ; 
for,  by  a  corruption  of  morals,  the  public  happiness  is  immediately 
affected.  And  that  this  is  one  of  the  effects  of  quartering  troops  in  a 
populous  city  is  a  truth,  to  which  many  a  mourning  parent,  many  a  lost, 
despairing  child  in  this  metropolis,  must  bear  a  very  melancholy  testi- 
mony. Soldiers  are  also  taught  to  consider  arms  as  the  only  arbiters  by 
which  every  dispute  is  to  be  decided  between  contending  states :  they  are 
instructed  implicitly  to  obey  their  commanders,  without  inquiring  into 
the  justice  of  the  cause  they  are  engaged  to  support.  Hence  it  is,  that 
that  they  are  ever  to  be  dreaded  as  the  ready  engines  of  tyranny  and 
oppression.  And  it  is  too  observable  that  they  are  prone  to  introduce 
the  same  mode  of  decision  in  the  disputes  of  individuals ;  and  from  thence 
have  often  arisen  great  animosities  between  them  and  the  inhabitants, 
who,  whilst  in  a  naked,  defenceless  state,  are  frequently  insulted  and 
abused  by  an  armed  soldiery.  And  this  will  be  more  especially  the  case, 
when  the  troops  are  informed  that  the  intention  of  their  being  stationed 
in  any  city,  is  to  overawe  the  inhabitants.  That  this  was  the  avowed 
design  of  stationing  an  armed  force  in  this  town,  is  sufficiently  knowm ; 
and  we,  my  fellow-citizens,  have  seen  —  we  have  felt  —  the  tragical  effects  I 
The  Fatal  Fifth  of  March,  1770,  can  never  be  forgotten.  The  hor- 
rors of  that  dreadful  night  are  but  too  deeply  impressed  on  our  hearts. 
Language  is  too  feeble  to  paint  the  emotions  of  our  souls,  when  our 
streets  were  stained  with  the  blood  of  our  brethren ;  when  our  ears  were 
wounded  by  the  groans  of  the  dying,  and  our  eyes  were  tormented  with 
the  sight  of  the  mangled  bodies  of  the  dead.  When  our  alarmed  imagi- 
nation presented  to  our  view  our  houses  wrapt  in  flames ;  our  children 
subjected  to  the  barbarous  caprice  of  the  raging  soldiery;  our  beauteous 
virgins  exposed  to  all  the  insolence  of  unbridled  passion ;  our  virtuous 
wives,  endeared  to  us  by  every  tender  tie,  falling  a  sacrifice  to  worse  than 
brutal  violence,  and  perhaps,  like  the  famed  Lucretia,  distracted  with 
anguish  and  despair,  ending  their  wretched  lives  by  their  own  fair  hands ; 
when  we  beheld  the  authors  of  our  distress  parading  in  our  streets,  or 
drawn  up  in  a  regular  battalia,  as  though  in  a  hostile  city,  —  our  hearts 
beat  to  arms.  We  snatched  our  weapons,  almost  resolved,  by  one  decisive 
stroke,  to  avenge  the  death  of  our  slaughtered  brethren,  and  to  secure 
from  future  danger  all  that  we  held  most  dear.  But  propitious  Heaven 
forbad  the  bloody  carnage,  and  saved  the  threatened  victims  of  our  too 
keen  resentment,  —  not  by  their  discipline,  not  by  their  regular  array.  No, 
it  was  royal  George's  livery  that  proved  their  shield  :  it  was  that  which 
turned  the  pointed  engines  of  destruction  from  their  breasts.  The 
thoughts  of  vengeance  were  soon  buried  in  our  inbred  affection  to  Great 


26 

Britain  ;  and  calm  reason  dictated  a  method  of  removing  the  troops,  more 
mild  than  an  immediate  recourse  to  the  sword.  With  united  efforts,  you 
urged  the  immediate  departure  of  the  troops  from  the  town.  You  urged 
it  with  a  resolution  which  ensured  success.  You  obtained  your  wishes ; 
and  the  removal  of  the  troops  was  effected,  without  one  drop  of  their 
blood  being  shed  by  the  inhabitants. 

The  immediate  actors  in  the  tragedy  of  that  night  were  surrendered  to 
justice.  It  is  not  mine  to  say  how  far  they  were  guilty.  They  have  been 
tried  by  the  country,  and  acquitted  of  murder !  And  they  are  not  to  be 
again  arraigned  at  an  earthly  bar.  But,  surely,  the  men  who  have  pro- 
miscuously scattered,  death  amidst  the  innocent  inhabitants  of  a  populous 
city,  ought  to  see  well  to  it  that  they  be  prepared  to  stand  at  the  bar  of  an 
omniscient  Judge !  And  all  who  contrived  or  encouraged  the  stationing 
troops  in  this  place,  have  reasons  of  eternal  importance  to  reflect  with  deep 
contrition  on  their  base  designs,  and  humbly  to  repent  of  their  impious 
machinations. 

The  infatuation  which  hath  seemed,  for  a  number  of  years,  to  prevail 
in  the  British  councils  (with  regard  to  us)  is  truly  astonishing !  What 
can  be  proposed  by  the  repeated  attacks  made  upon  our  freedom,  I  really 
cannot  surmise.  Even  leaving  justice  and  humanity  out  of  the  question, 
I  do  not  know  one  single  advantage  which  can  arise  to  the  British  nation 
from  our  being  enslaved.  I  know  not  of  any  gains  which  can  be  wrung 
from  us  by  oppression,  which  they  may  not  obtain  from  us  by  our  own  con- 
sent in  the  smooth  channel  of  commerce.  We  wish  the  wealth  and  pros- 
perity of  Britain  :  we  contribute  largely  to  both.  Doth  what  we  contribute 
lose  all  its  value  because  it  is  done  voluntarily  ?  The  amazing  increase 
of  riches  to  Britain,  the  great  rise  of  the  value  of  her  lands,  the  flourish- 
ing state  of  her  navy,  are  striking  proofs  of  the  advantages  derived  to  her 
from  her  commerce  with  the  colonies.  And  it  is  our  earnest  desire  that 
she  may  still  continue  to  enjoy  the  same  emoluments,  until  her  streets  are 
paved  with  American  gold,  —  only  let  us  have  the  pleasure  of  calling  it  our 
own,  whilst  it  is  in  our  hands.  But  this,  it  seems,  is  too  great  a  favor. 
We  arc  to  be  governed  by  the  absolute  commands  of  others.  Our  prop- 
erty is  to  be  taken  away  without  our  consent.  If  we  complain,  our  com- 
plaints are  treated  with  contempt.  If  we  assert  our  rights,  that  assertion  is 
deemed  insolence.  If  we  humbly  offer  to  submit  the  matter  to  the  impar- 
tial decision  of  reason,  the  sword  is  judged  the  most  proper  argument  to 
silence  our  murmurs !  But  this  cannot  long  be  the  case.  Surely,  the  Brit- 
ish nation  will  not  suffer  the  reputation  of  their  justice  and  their  honor  to 
be  thus  sported  away  by  a  capricious  ministry.  No  I  They  will,  in  a 
short  time,  open  their  eyes  to  their  true  interest.  They  nourish,  in  their 
own  breasts,  a  noble  love  of  liberty.  They  hold  her  dear  ;  and  they  know 
that  all  who  have  once  possessed  her  charms  had  rather  die  than  suffer 
her  to  be  torn  from  their  embraces.    They  are  also  sensible  that  Britain 


27 

is  so  deeply  interested  in  the  prosperity  of  the  colonies,  that  she  must, 
eventually,  feel  every  wound  given  to  their  freedom.  They  cannot  be  ig- 
norant that  more  dependence  may  be  placed  on  the  affections  of  a  brother, 
than  on  the  forced  service  of  a  slave.  They  must  approve  your  efforts  for 
the  preservation  of  your  rights.  From  a  sympathy  of  soul,  they  must 
pray  for  your  success.  And  I  doubt  not  but  they  will,  ere  long,  exert 
themselves  effectually  to  redress  your  grievances.  Even  in  the  dissolute 
reign  of  King  Charles  II.,  when  the  House  of  Commons  impeached  the 
Earl  of  Clarendon  of  high  treason,  the  first  article  on  which  they  founded 
their  accusation  was,  that  "  he  had  designed  a  standing  army  to  be  raised, 
and  to  govern  the  kingdom  thereby."  And  the  eighth  article  was,  that 
"  he  had  introduced  an  arbitrary  government  into  his  majesty's  planta- 
tion." A  terrifying  example  to  those  who  are  now  forging  chains  for 
this  country ! 

You  have,  my  friends  and  countrymen,  frustrated  the  designs  of  your 
enemies,  by  your  unanimity  and  fortitude.  It  was  your  union  and  deter- 
mined spirit  which  expelled  those  troops,  who  polluted  your  streets  with 
innocent  blood.  You  have  appointed  this  anniversary  as  a  standing  me- 
morial of  the  bloody  consequences  of  placing  an  armed  force  in  a  popu- 
lous city,  and  of  your  deliverance  from  the  dangers  which  then  seemed  to 
hang  over  your  heads.  And  I  am  confident  that  you  never  will  betray 
the  least  want  of  spirit  when  called  upon  to  guard  your  freedom.  None 
but  they  who  set  a  just  value  upon  the  blessings  of  liberty  are  worthy  to 
enjoy  her.  Your  illustrious  fathers  were  her  zealous  votaries.  When  the 
blasting  frowns  of  tyranny  drove  her  from  public  view,  they  clasped  her 
in  their  arms,  they  cherished  her  in  their  generous  bosoms,  they  brought 
her  safe  over  the  rough  ocean,  and  fixed  her  seat  in  this  then  dreary  wil- 
derness. They  nursed  her  infant  age  with  the  most  tender  care.  For  her 
sake,  they  patiently  bore  the  severest  hardships :  for  her  support,  they 
underwent  the  most  rugged  toils.  In  her  defence,  they  boldly  encountered 
the  most  alarming  dangers.  Neither  the  ravenous  beasts  that  ranged  the 
woods  for  prey,  nor  the  more  furious  savages  of  the  wilderness,  could 
damp  their  ardor.  Whilst  with  one  hand  they  broke  the  stubborn  glebe, 
with  the  other  they  grasped  their  weapons,  ever  ready  to  protect  her  from 
danger.  No  sacrifice  —  not  even  their  own  blood  —  was  esteemed  too  rich 
a  libation  for  her  altar !  God  prospered  their  valor.  They  preserved  her 
brilliancy  unsullied.  They  enjoyed  her  whilst  they  lived,  and  dying,  be- 
queathed the  dear  inheritance  to  your  care.  And  as  they  left  you  this ' 
glorious  legacy,  they  have  undoubtedly  transmitted  to  you  some  portion 
of  their  noble  spirit,  to  inspire  you  with  virtue  to  merit  her,  and  courage 
to  preserve  her.  You  surely  cannot,  with  such  examples  before  your 
eyes,  —  as  every  page  of  the  history  of  this  country  affords,  —  suffer  your 
liberties  to  be  ravished  from  you  by  lawless  force,  or  cajoled  away  by  flat- 
tery and  fraud. 


28 

The  voice  of  your  fathers'  blood  cries  to  you  from  the  ground,  My 
sons,  scorn  to  be  slaves  !  In  vain  we  met  the  frowns  of  tyrants ;  in  vain 
we  crossed  the  boisterous  ocean,  found  a  new  world,  and  prepared  it  for 
the  happy  residence  of  liberty ;  in  vain  we  toiled ;  in  vain  we  fought ; 
we  bled  in  vain,  if  you  (our  offspring)  want  valor  to  repel  the  assaults  of 
her  invaders !  Stain  not  the  glory  of  your  worthy  ancestors ;  but,  like 
them,  resolve  never  to  part  with  your  birthright.  Be  wise  in  your  delib- 
erations, and  determined  in  your  exertions  for  the  preservation  of  your 
liberties.  Follow  not  the  dictates  of  passion,  but  enlist  yourselves  under 
the  sacred  banner  of  reason.  Use  every  method  in  your  power  to  secure 
your  rights,  —  at  least  prevent  the  curses  of  posterity  from  being  heaped 
upon  your  memories. 

If  you,  with  united  zeal  and  fortitude,  oppose  the  torrent  of  oppression ; 
if  you  feel  the  true  fire  of  patriotism  burning  in  your  breasts ;  if  you, 
from  your  souls,  despise  the  most  gaudy  dress  that  slavery  can  wear ;  if 
you  really  prefer  the  lonely  cottage  (whilst  blest  with  liberty)  to  gilded 
palaces,  surrounded  with  the  ensigns  of  slavery,  you  may  have  the  fullest 
assurance  that  tyranny,  with  her  whole  accursed  train,  will  hide  their 
hideous  heads  in  confusion,  shame,  and  despair.  If  you  perform  your 
part,  you  must  have  the  strongest  confidence,  that  the  same  almighty 
Being  who  protected  your  pious  and  venerable  forefathers,  who  enabled 
them  to  turn  a  barren  wilderness  into  a  fruitful  field,  who  so  often  made 
bare  his  arm  for  their  salvation,  will  still  be  mindful  of  you  —  their  off- 
spring. 

May  this  almighty  Being  graciously  preside  in  all  our  councils.  May 
he  direct  us  to  such  measures  as  he  himself  shall  approve,  and  be  pleased 
to  bless.  May  we  ever  be  a  people  favored  of  God.  May  our  land  be  a 
land  of  liberty,  —  the  seat  of  virtue,  the  asylum  of  the  oppressed,  a  name 
and  a  praise  in  the  whole  earth,  —  until  the  last  shock  of  time  shall  bury 
the  empires  of  the  world  in  one  common,  undistinguished  ruin ! 


29 


THE  BOSTON  TEA-PARTY. 


(_Of  all  the  many  gatherings  which  the  Old  South  Church 
has  witnessed,  none  have  been  more  familiar  than  those  which 
preceded  the  Boston  Tea-Party.  1  We  all  know  the  story,  how 
George  III.,  finding  the  StampAct  beyond  his  power,  strove 
to  conciliate  his  distant  subjects,  whose  refusal  to  import  was 
crippling  British  commerce.  That  the  tea  tax,  which  alone 
remained,  added  nothing  to  the  price  of  tea,  mattered  not  to 
the  colonists.  With  one  accord,  they  had  refused  to  receive 
the  cargoes.  "  The  king  means  to  try  the  question  with 
America,"  declared  Lord  North ;  and  the  ships  were  sent. 
The  issue  was  to  be  tried  in  Boston.  Her  tea  ships  were  on 
the  water.  The  governor  himself,  under  the  name  of  his 
sons,  was  selected  as  one  of  the  consignees. 

In  the  night  between  the  first  and  second  of  November,  a 
knock  was  heard  at  the  door  of  each  of  the  persons  commis- 
sioned by  the  East  India  Company,  and  a  summons  left  for 
them  to  appear  without  fail  at  Liberty  Tree,  on  the  following 
Wednesday,  to  resign  their  commissions.  The  freemen  of 
Boston  and  the  neighboring  towns  were  desired  to  appear  as 
witnesses.  At  the  appointed  time  no  consignees  arrived ; 
and  the  committee  which  waited  upon  them  met  with  a  blank 
refusal.  One  other  meeting — this  time  a  formal,  legal  one 
—  was  held  to  entreat  compliance.  When  the  refusal  was 
repeated,  the  town  passed  no  vote,  uttered  no  opinion ;  but 
the  meeting  immediately  dissolved.  Ominous  indeed  was 
that  silence  ! 

On  Sunday,  the  twenty-eighth  of  November,  1773,  the 
"  Dartmouth  "  sailed  down  the  bay.  To  keep  the  sabbath 
strictly  was  the  New-England  usage.  But  hours  were  precious. 


30 

Let  the  tea  be  entered,  and  it  would  be  beyond  the  power  of 
the  consignee  to  send  it  back.  The  selectmen  held  one  meet- 
ing by  day,  and  another  in  the  evening ;  but  they  sought  in 
vain  for  the  consignees,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  castle. 

The  committee  of  correspondence  were  more  successful. 
They  also  met  on  Sunday,  and  obtained  from  Quaker  Rotch 
(the  owner  of  the  "  Dartmouth  "  )  a  promise  not  to  enter  his 
ship  until  Tuesday,  and  authorized  Samuel  Adams  to  invite 
the  committees  of  the  five  surrounding  towns  (Dorchester, 
Roxbury,  Brookline,  Cambridge,  and  Charlestown),  with 
their  own  townsmen  and  those  of  Boston,  to  hold  a  mass 
meeting  the  following  morning.  With  electric  speed  the 
summons  ran ;  and  Faneuil  Hall  could  not  contain  the  peo- 
ple that,  on  Monday,  flocked  around  its  doors.  The  con- 
course was  the  largest  ever  known  ;  and  past  the  doors  of  the 
council-chamber,  past  the  house  of  the  governor,  the  torrent 
swept  up  to  the  Old  South  Church. 

That  the  tea  should  be  returned  whence  it  came,  was 
voted  by  acclamation.  Not  a  chest  should  land  on  American 
soil :  not  one  cent  should  be  paid  in  tribute.  Yet  the  meet- 
ing was  calm  and  serious.  A.  few  speakers  talked  in  a  style 
which  was  violent  and  inflammatory  ;  but  moderate  counsel 
prevailed.  "Never  was  Adams  in  greater  glory,"  wrote  the 
indignant  governor.  A  patriot  from  Rhode  Island  was  so 
impressed  with  the  regular  and  sensible  conduct  of  the  meet- 
ing, that  he  says  he  should  have  thought  himself  rather  in 
the  British  senate  than  in  the  promiscuous  assembly  of  the 
people  of  a  remote  colony,  had  he  not  been  convinced  by  the 
genuine  integrity  and  manly  hardihood  of  its  rhetoricians 
that  they  were  not  "  tainted  with  venality  nor  debauched 
with  luxury."  The  speeches  which  won  this  tribute  perished 
with  the  hour,  but  the  men  who  gave  them  utterance  bear 
witness  to  their  tenor. 

If  the  king  was  determined  to  try  the  issue  with  America, 
America  was  equally  determined  to  try  the  issue  with  the 
king  ;  and  in  the  Old  South  Church  that  day  were  many  whose 
ancestors  had  taken  refuge  in  the  desert  from  the  tyranny  of 


31 

another  King  of  England,  who  had  found  a  like  propensity  for 
trying  questions  with  his  subjects  somewhat  unsatisfactory. 

The  meeting,  after  their  forcible  resolutions  to  pay  no 
duties,  adjourned  till  three  o'clock,  to  give  the  consignees 
time  to  make  all  necessary  concessions.  In  the  afternoon, 
the  captain  and  the  owner  of  the  "  Dartmouth  "  were  sum- 
moned into  the  presence  of  the  great  assembly.  The 
"  usurpers,"  as  Gov.  Hutchinson  called  the  patriots  there 
collected,  were  peremptory  in  their  demands.  Capt.  Hall 
and  Mr.  Rotch  were  charged  not  to  land  the  tea,  upon  their 
peril ;  and  a  watch  of  twenty-five  people  was  appointed  to 
prevent  any  attempt  by  night.  Censure  was  boldly  passed 
upon  the  governor  for  having  ventured  to  summon  the  aid 
of  the  officers  of  the  law  to  protect  the  safety  of  the  town. 
Such  conduct  was  considered  an  insult  to  the  people,  who 
felt  perfectly  able  to  protect  themselves.  The  meeting  in 
the  Old  South  Church  was  to  fulfil  the  laws,  and  not  to  vio- 
late them.  The  duty  upon  tea  had  been  pronounced  uncon- 
stitutional ;  and  the  people,  in  the  absence  of  a  governor 
who  could  defend  their  liberties,  intended  to  take  that  office 
upon  themselves.  In  vain  his  excellency  summoned  the 
council  to  interfere.  From  the  windows  of  the  council- 
chamber,  they  looked  calmly  down  on  the  concourse  stretch- 
ing beyond  the  church  door  almost  to  their  oavii.  Bowdoin, 
Dexter,  and  Otis,  and  their  colleagues,  felt  little  uneasiness 
at  the  proceedings  at  the  Old  South.  In  vain  he  called  upon 
the  cadets,  —  his  own  body-guard.  What  could  be  expected 
of  men  under  Hancock,  when  their  colonel  himself  was  in 
the  meeting-house  pledging  life  and  fortune  in  the  measures 
there  determined  ?  The  governor,  in  despair,  was  forced  to 
look  helplessly  on,  while  the  regulation  of  the  town  was 
taken  quietly  from  his  hands.  Meanwhile,  in  the  "  Sanctu- 
ary of  Freedom,"  people  were  growing  impatient.  No  reply 
had  come  from  the  consignees..  John  Hancock  rose  in  their 
behalf,  petitioning  for  further  delay ;  and  "  out  of  great  ten- 
derness for  them,"  the  meeting  adjourned  to  nine  the  next 
morning. 


32 

On  Tuesday,  at  the  appointed  hour,  the  Old  South  doors 
again  stood  open,  and  the  crowd  once  more  assembled.  At 
last,  a  letter  from  the  consignees  had  come,  stating  that,  with 
their  orders  from  the  East  India  Company,  it  was  utterly  out 
of  their  power  to  send  back  the  tea,  but  that  they  were  will- 
ing to  store  it  until  they  could  send  to  England  for  further 
advice.  The  wrath  of  the  meeting  was  kindling,  when 
Greenleaf,  Sheriff  of  Suffolk,  entered  the  church,  bearing  a 
proclamation  from  the  governor  of  the  province.  This  he 
begged  permission  of  the  moderator  to  read.  Opposition  was 
made  to  its  reception,  but  Samuel  Adams  spoke  in  favor  of 
granting  the  request ;  and  the  sheriff  read  to  the  assembled 
people  the  following  proclamation  :  — 

MASSAbTy  SETTS  1  BY  THE   GOVERNOR. 

To  JONATHAN  WILLIAMS,  Esq.,  acting  as  Moderator  of  an  Assembly 
of  People  in  the  Town  of  Boston,  and  to  the  People  so  assembled  : 

Whereas  printed  notifications  were,  on  Monday,  the  29th  instant, 
posted  in  divers  places  in  the  Town  of  Boston,  and  published  in  the  news- 
papers of  that  day,  calling  upon  the  people  to  assemble  together  for 
certain  unlawful  purposes,  in  such  notification  mentioned;  and  whereas 
great  numbers  of  people  belonging  to  the  Town  of  Boston,  on  the  said 
day,  did  then  and  there  proceed  to  choose  a  moderator,  and  to  consult 
and  debate  and  resolve  upon  ways  and  means  for  carrying  such  unlawful 
purposes  into  execution,  openly  violating,  defying  and  setting  at  nought 
the  good  and  wholesome  laws  of  the  Province,  and  the  constitution 
of  government  under  which  they  live;  and  whereas  the  people  thus 
assembled  did  vote  or  agree  to  adjourn  or  continue  their  meeting  to  this 
the  30th  instant,  and  great  numbers  are  again  met  and  assembled  for  the 
like  purposes  in  the  said  Town  of  Boston,  —  in  faithfulness  to  my  trust, 
and  as  His  Majesty's  representative  within  the  Province,  I  am  bound  to 
bear  testimony  against  this  violation  of  the  Laws.  And  I  warn,  exhort, 
and  require  of  you,  and  each  of  you  thus  unlawfully  assembled,  forth- 
with to  disperse  and  to  surcease  all  further  unlawful  proceedings,  at  your 
utmost  peril. 

Given  under  my  hand  at  Milton,  in  the  Province  aforesaid,  the  30th 
day  of  November,  1773,  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  His  Majesty's  reign. 

T.  Hutchinson. 

By  His  Excellency's  command, 

Thos.  Flucker,  Secr*y. 


33 

This  authoritative  summons  produced  but  little  effect  on 
the  men  in  that  "  Seed-bed  of  Rebellion."  Hisses  of  deri- 
sion followed  the  retreating  sheriff  as  he  returned  to  his  help- 
less master,  leaving  the  citizens  of  Boston  to  provide  for  the 
welfare  of  the  state. 

Copley,  the  artist  (son-in-law  of  Clarke,  one  of  the  con- 
signees), seems  to  have  acted  the  part  of  mediator  between 
the  people  and  the  loyalists.  No  one  could  have  been  better 
fitted  for  the  office,  as  he  was  a  general  favorite  in  Boston  ; 
and,  though  at  the  crisis  he  sided  with  the  government,  his 
suggestions  were  often  listened  to.  After  the  storm  of  hisses 
had  subsided,  and  the  assembly  had  unanimously  voted  not 
to  disperse,  Copley  desired  to  know  whether,  in  case  he  could 
prevail  upon  the  Clarkes  to  present  themselves  before  the 
people,  they  would  be  treated  with  civility.  The  promise 
was  given ;  and  tAvo  hours  were  allowed  him  to  produce  his 
friends,  during  which  time  the  meeting  adjourned.  He  had 
to  go  to  the  castle  by  water,  and  failed  in  his  mission,  as  the 
Clarkes  refused  to  appear.  Copley  returned  some  time  after 
the  meeting  had  reorganized,  hoping  that,  if  he  had  exceeded 
the  time  allowed  him,  the  difficulty  of,  a  passage  by  water  at 
that  season  would  be  considered  an  excuse.  He  assured  the 
meeting  that  he  had  exerted  his  utmost  influence  with  the 
consignees,  and  even  convinced  them  that  they  could  appear 
in  safety,  but  that  his  friends  could  see  no  advantage  in  any 
such  appearance,  since  they  could  only  reiterate  their  former 
statements.  They  could  go  no  further  without  insuring 
their  own  ruin ;  but  as  they  had  not  been  active  in  intro- 
ducing the  tea,  so  also  they  would  do  nothing  to  obstruct  the 
people  in  their  procedures  with  regard  to  it. 

Immediately  the  question  was  put  to  the  meeting  whether 
the  reply  of  Mr.  Copley  was  in  the  least  degree  satisfactory. 
An  indignant  "  No  "  was  the  unanimous  response. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Rotch,  the  owner  of  the  "  Dartmouth,"  had 
been  summoned  before  the  tribunal ;  and  in  his  presence  a 
vote  was  passed,  that  the  cargo  of  the  "Dartmouth"  should 
be  returned  "in  the  same  bottom  in  which  it  came." 


34 

Mr.  Rotch  informed  the  meeting  that  he  should  protest 
against  the  whole  proceedings,  as  he  had  done  against  the 
proceedings  of  3-esterday  ;  but  nevertheless,  overawed  by  the 
iron  will  of  a  determined  people,  he  agreed  to  the  require- 
ments. Capt.  Hall  was,  at  his  peril,  forbidden  to  assist 
in  unloading  the  tea,  and  consented  to  carry  it  back  to 
London. 

Then  a  vote  was  passed  that  John  Rowe,  Esq.,  part  owner 
of  Capt.  Bruce's  ship,  which  was  soon  expected,  and  also 
Mr.  Timmins,  factor  for  Capt.  Coffin's  brig,  should  be  forth- 
with summoned.  Rowe  was  informed  of  the  consent  of  Mr. 
Rotch,  that  the  tea  on  board  the  "  Dartmouth"  should  be 
returned  without  unloading  ;  and  that  it  was  the  expectation 
of  the  assembly  before  him,  that  he  should  give  similar 
pledges  for  the  tea  expected  with  Capt.  Bruce.  Rowe  de- 
clared that  the  ship  was  wholly  in  the  charge  of  that  officer, 
but  promised  to  use  his  influence  to  promote  the  wishes  of 
his  felloAv-citizens,  and  that  he  would  give  them  immediate 
information  of  the  arrival  of  the  ship. 

Mr.  Timmins,  on  his  part,  assured  the  people  that  the 
brig  to  which  they  referred  was  owned  in  Nantucket,  but 
that  he  would  pledge  his  word  of  honor,  that,  while  she  was 
under  his  care,  no  tea  should  be  landed,  nor  should  it  be 
touched  until  the  arrival  of  the  owner. 

The  assurances  of  Mr.  Rowe  and  Mr.  Timmins  were  voted 
to  be  satisfactory. 

Resolutions  were  passed  against  such  merchants  of  the 
province  as  had  even  inadvertently  imported  tea,  while  sub- 
ject to  duty ;  and,  for  the  future,  it  was  declared,  that  any 
persons  concerned  in  any  such  importation  should  be  es- 
teemed enemies  to  their  country.  It  was  voted  to  be  the 
determination  of  the  meeting  to  prevent  all  sale  or  land- 
ing of  tea,  and  that  the  people  were  prepared  to  carry 
their  votes  and  resolutions  into  execution,  at  the  risk  of 
their  lives  and  property. 

Well  might  such  a  declaration  be  held  as  a  manifesto  of 
rebellion !    Hutchinson  tried  to  fasten  it  as  a  proof  of  treason 


35 

upon  some  of  the  leaders  ;  but  "  though  it  was  in  every  one's 
mouth,  that  Hancock  said  at  the  close  of  the  meeting,  he 
would  be  willing  to  spend  his  fortune  and  life  in  so  good  a 
cause,  not  one  witness  could  be  found  to  take  oath  to  it." 

Samuel  Adams,  John  Hancock,  William  Phillips,  John 
Rowe,  and  Jonathan  Williams  were  appointed  to  send  copies 
of  the  above  resolutions  through  the  colonies,  and  even  to 
England  herself. 

Six  post-riders  were  chosen,  to  give  notice  to  the  country 
towns,  in  case  of  an  attempt  to  land  the  tea  by  force ;  and 
the  committee  of  correspondence,  by  order  of  the  meeting, 
took  care  that  a  military  watch  was  regularly  kept  up  by 
volunteers,  armed  with  muskets  and  bayonets,  who,  at  every 
half-hour  through  the  night,  regularly  passed  the  word  "  All 
is  well,"  like  sentinels  in  a  garrison.  Were  they  to  be 
molested  by  night,  the  tolling  of  the  bells  would  be  the  sig- 
nal for  a  general  uprising.  Having  perfected  all  these 
arrangements  in  the  most  orderly  and  business-like  manner, 
the  meeting  was  dissolved. 

Two  more  tea  ships  arrived,  and  were  anchored  beside  the 
"Dartmouth,"  off  Griffin's  wharf,  that  one  guard  might  suf- 
fice for  all.  The  legal  situation  of  these  ships  now  became 
a  serious  consideration.  Only  twenty  days  were  allowed 
before  the  vessels  would  be  liable  to  seizure,  unless  they  had 
disembarked  their  cargo.  Those  of  the  "  Dartmouth  "  were 
running  fast.  Mr.  Rotch,  despite  his  protestations,  seemed 
rather  lax  in  his  preparations  to  return  the  ship  to  England. 
At  last,  the  following  placard  appeared  in  every  quarter  of 
the  town :  — 

Friends !  Brethren !    Countrymen ! 
The  perfidious  arts  of  your  restless  enemies  to  render  ineffectual  the 
late  resolutions  of  the  body  of  the  people,  demand  your  assembling  at  the 
Old  South  Meeting-house,  precisely  at  ten  o'clock  this  day,  at  which  time 
the  bells  will  ring. 

The  meeting  on  Tuesday,  December  fourteenth,  is  said  to 
have  been  larger  than  any  of  the  preceding.  People  from  a 
distance  of  twenty  miles  attended.     A  citizen  of  Weston, 


36 

Samuel  Williams  Savage,  was  appointed  moderator.  Its 
business  may  be  briefly  told.  Captain  Bruce,  induced  per- 
haps by  the  promised  influence  of  the  patriot  Rowe,  agreed 
to  ask  for  an  immediate  clearance  for  London,  as  soon  as  he 
had  landed  all  his  goods  except  the  tea.  Rotch  was  again 
summoned,  and  enjoined  at  his  peril  to  demand  of  the  col- 
lector of  customs  a  clearance  for  his  ship  ;  and  Samuel  Adams 
and  eight  others  were  chosen  a  committee  to  see  that  this  was 
done.  The  meeting  then  adjourned  to  the  sixteenth,  —  the 
last  of  the  twenty  days  before  it  would  become  legal  for 
the  revenue  officers  to  seize  the  ship  and  land  its  cargo  at  the 
castle.  The  town's  committee  accompanied  Rotch  to  the 
lodging  of  the  collector,  who  refused  to  give  an  answer  until 
the  next  morning.  The  Boston  committee  of  correspond- 
ence had  the  last  of  their  preparatory  meetings  on  Tuesday 
evening.  Long  and  important  were  the  discussions,  and  the 
plans  decided  on  were  fraught  with  peril.  That  little  body 
of  stout-hearted  men  were  making  history  that  should  en- 
dure for  ages.  But  the  seal  of  silence  was  upon  the  pen  of 
the  secretary  as  well  as  upon  the  lips  of  the  members. 
Morning  and  evening,  for  two  days,  they  had  been  in  close 
communion.  Yet  the  journal  for  that  time  contains  only 
the  brief  and  prudent  entry  :  "  No  business  transacted^  matter 
of  record" 

Wednesday  came,  and  one  more  attempt  was  made  to 
obtain  a  clearance  for  the  "  Dartmouth."  The  world  should 
not  say,  in  future  times,  that  efforts  were  wanting  to  secure 
justice  up  to  the  last  moment.  Adams,  Kent,  and  the  others 
of  the  town's  committee  accompanied  Rotch  to  the  collector. 
This  time,  he  was  with  the  comptroller  at  the  Custom  House  ; 
and  both  unequivocally  and  finally  refused  to  allow  the 
ships  to  depart.  This  was  conclusive  as  far  as  the  powers 
of  the  revenue  officers  were  concerned ;  but  there  remained 
one  more  chance. 

The  morning  of  Thursday,  the  sixteenth  of  December, 
1773,  dawned  upon  Boston,  —  a  day  by  far  the  most  moment- 
ous in  her  annals.     The  skies  were  rainy,  no  handbill  was 


37 

posted  in  the  streets,  no  rally-words  were  seen  in  the  jour- 
nals ;  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  suspended  business, 
and  thronged  to  the  Old  South  Meeting-house,  whither  the 
people  flocked  for  twenty  miles  around.  "  Nearly  seven 
thousand  gentlemen,  merchants,  yeomen,  and  others, — re- 
spectable for  their  rank  and  abilities,  and  venerable  lor  their 
age  and  character," — constituted  the  assembly.  Tnere  was 
Adams,  the  "  Great  Incendiary,"  before  whose  might 
the  representatives  of  England  had  meekly  bowed;  there 
were  the  ardent  Quincy  and  the  eloquent  Warren,  and  Han- 
cock, colonel  of  his  excellency's  own  guard.  There  were 
the  selectmen  of  the  town,  and  there  the  councillors  of  the 
province.  All  the  power  of  Massachusetts  had  assembled 
for  the  death-struggle.  The  hour  of  deliberation  had  passed. 
Exile,  poverty,  and  death  were  before  them,  or  the  slavery 
of  submission.  The  assembly  knew  no  hesitation.  Every 
peaceable  means  should  be  first  tried  ;  but  the  issue  was  de- 
cided. 

The  committee  appointed  to  accompany  Mr.  Rotch  to  the 
collector,  reported  that  he  had  made  his  demand  after  the 
following  manner :  — 

"  I  am  required  and  compelled,  at  my  peril,  by  a  body  of 
people  assembled  in  the  Old  South  Meeting-house,  to  make  a 
demand  to  30U,  to  give  me  a  clearance  for  the  ship  4 Dart- 
mouth,' with  the  tea  on  board." 

Upon  which,  one  of  the  committee  had  observed  that  they 
were  present  simply  as  witnesses  of  the  demand,  and  of  the 
answer  that  should  be  given. 

Thereupon  the  collector  had  said  to  Mr.  Rotch,  "  Then  it 
is  you  that  make  the  demand  ?  "  and  Rotch  had  answered, 
"  Yes  :  I  am  compelled,  at  my  peril." 

The  refusal  which  had  been  then  accorded  him  availed 
Rotch  little.  He  was  reminded  that  he  had  solemnly  assured 
a  former  meeting  that  the  tea  should  be  returned.  If  the 
Custom  House  refused  a  clearance,  he  must  forthwith  apply 
to  the  governor  for  a  pass,  so  that  the  ship  might  that  day 
proceed  to  London.     The  governor  had  stolen  away  to  Mil- 


38 

ton  :  so,  bidding  Rotch  make  all  haste,  the  meeting  adjourned 
until  three  o'clock. 

At  that  hour,  Rotch  had  not  returned.  It  was  incidentally 
voted  (as  other  towns  had  done)  to  abstain,  totally,  from  the 
use  of  tea ;  and  every  town  was  advised  to  appoint  its  com- 
mittee of  inspection,  to  prevent  any  admission  by  stealth. 
Then,  since  the  governor  might  refuse  his  pass,  the  moment- 
ous question  recurred,  "  Whether  it  be  the  sense  and  deter- 
mination of  this  body  to  abide  by  their  former  resolutions 
with  respect  to  not  suffering  the  tea  to  be  landed  ?  "  On 
this  question,  Samuel  Adams  and  Young  addressed  the 
meeting,  which  now  embraced  seven  thousand  men.  There 
was  among  them  a  patriot  of  fervid  feeling,  passionately  de- 
voted to  the  liberty  of  his  country,  —  still  young,  his  eye 
bright,  his  cheek  glowing  with  hectic  fever.  He  knew  his 
strength  was  ebbing.  The  work  of  vindicating  American 
freedom  must  be  soon  done  or  he  will  h%  no  party  to  the 
great  achievement.  He  rises,  but  it  is  to  restrain ;  and  be- 
ing truly  brave  and  truly  resolved,  he  speaks  the  language 
of  moderation :  — 

"  Shouts  and  hosannas  will  not  terminate  the  trials  of  this 
day,  nor  popular  resolves,  harangues,  and  acclamations  van- 
quish our  foes.  We  must  be  grossly  ignorant  of  the  value  of 
the  prize  for  which  we  contend,  of  the  power  combined 
against  us,  of  the  inveterate  malice  and  insatiable  revenge 
which  actuate  our  enemies  (public  and  private,  abroad  and 
in  our  bosom),  if  we  hope  that  we  shall  end  this  controversy 
without  the  sharpest  conflicts.  Let  us  consider  the  issue, 
before  we  advance  to  those  measures  which  must  bring  on 
the  most  trying  and  terrible  struggle  this  country  ever  saw." 
Thus  spoke  the  younger  Quincy. 

"  Now  that  our  hand  is  to  the  plough,"  returned  the  an- 
swer, "there  must  be  no  looking  back."  And  the  whole 
assembly  of  seven  thousand  voted  that  the  tea  should  not 
be  landed. 

When,  at  five  o'clock,  Mr.  Rotch  still  had  not  arrived,  the 
people  began  to  be  very  uneasy.     But  the  more  judicious, 


39 

fearing  what  would  be  the  consequences,  begged  them  to 
have  patience  yet,  "for  the  reason  that  they  ought  to  do 
everything  in  their  power  to  send  the  tea  back  according  to 
their  resolves."  This  touched  the  pride  of  the  assembly, 
and  they  agreed  to  remain  together  yet  one  hour. 

More  than  any  of  the  other  speakers,  Quincy  engaged  the 
attention  of  the  impatient  audience.  At  one  time,  notwith- 
standing his  plea  for  moderation,  he  seems,  from  the  eastern 
gallery,  to  have  burst  into  animate  invective  against  the 
measures  of  the  British  government.  Harrison  Gray,  stand- 
ing upon  the  floor,  in  reply,  warned  the  "  young  gentleman 
in  the  gallery  "  against  the  consequences  of  such  intemperate 
language,  saying  that  such  words  would  no  longer  be  borne 
by  the  administration,  but  would  be  punished  as  they  de- 
served. "If  the  old  gentleman  on  the  floor,"  responded 
Quincy,  "  intends  by  his  warning  to  the  young  gentleman  in 
the  gallery  to  utter  only  a  friendly  voice,  in  the  spirit  of 
paternal  advice,  I  thank  him.  If  his  object  be  to  terrify  and 
intimidate,  I  despise  him.  I  see  the  clouds  which  now  rise 
thick  and  fast  upon  our  horizon.  The  thunders  roll,  and  the 
lightnings  play !  And  to  that  God  who  rides  on  the  whirl- 
wind, and  directs  the  storm,  I  commend  my  country !  " 

Various  were  the  suggestions  which  occupied  the  time  of 
waiting,  as  the  light  faded  away  and  still  no  answer  came. 
"  Who  knows  how  tea  will  mingle  with  salt  water  ?  "  cried 
the  undaunted  Rowe.  And  the  question  was  greeted  with 
applause.  All  were  convinced,  as  the  cold  night  darkened 
without,  that  the  last  scene  was  about  to  be  enacted.  Every- 
thing was  prepared  and  in  readiness.  Yet  few  could  have 
known  what  was  intended.  Should  the  governor  give  his 
clearance,  the  ships  would  be  sent  at  once  to  sea,  and  stout 
arms  were  ready  to  assist  in  working  them  down  the  harbor. 
Should  he  refuse,  it  would  be  impossible  to  pass  the  guns  of 
the  castle  or  the  war  ships  at  the  Narrows ;  and  but  one  al- 
ternative remained. 

Only  the  flickering  of  candles  lighted  the  Old  South 
Church  when,   through  the  darkness,  Rotch  at  length  re- 


/ 


40 

turned.  The  governor  had  refused  the  pass.  Solemnly 
arose  the  voice  of  Samuel  Adams:  "  This  meeting  can  do 
nothing  more  to  save  the  country."  Then  rang  from  the  gal- 
lery the  signal  war-whoop.  It  was  re-echoed  from  the  street 
below.  The  meeting  adjourned  to  Griffin's  wharf,  and  the 
work  was  done. 


41 


THE    OLD    SOUTH,  FROM    THE   TEA-PARTY 
TO   1775. 


(,"  There  is  to  this  edifice,"  said  one  of  Boston's  orators, 
"  not  only  a  natural  body,  but  also  a  spiritual  body,  —  the 
immortal  soul  of  Independence." 

Already,  even  in  England,  men  were  beginning  to  recog- 
nize the  power  even  of  its  very  name. 

"  The  transactions  at  Liberty  Tree,"  wrote  Samuel  Adams, 
"  were  treated  with  scorn  and  ridicule ;  but  when  they 
heard  of  the  resolutions  in  the  Old  South  Meeting-house, 
the  place  whence  the  orders  issued  for  the  removal  of  the 
troops  in  1770,  they  put  on  grave  countenances .^J 

"  Delenda  est  Carthago  !  "  was  the  cry  in  the  British  par- 
liament. That  nest  of  hornets  must  be  trampled  in  the  dust, 
as  a  warning  to  the  whole  continent.  Boston  has  presumed 
to  think  for  herself,  and  to  act  for  herself,  not  by  the  ex- 
cesses of  mobs,  such  as  even  royal  London  has  witnessed, 
but  in  solemn  public  conclave.  No  individuals  can  hence- 
forth bear  the  censure.  By  the  resolutions  in  the  Old  South 
Meeting-house,  the  town  itself  has  braved  the  vengeance  of 
the  British  crown ;  and  the  whole  town  must  bear  the 
penalty. 

The  Boston  Port  Act  followed,  a  measure  which  re- 
duced her  to  a  state  of  siege.  War  ships  blockaded  the 
harbor.  Not  a  stick  of  wood  could  be  cut  from  the  islands : 
not  a  row-boat  could  approach  her  wharves.  Even  fish  for 
the  starving  poor,  from  Marblehead,  had  to  be  carried  thirty 
miles  by  land.  Boston  was  excommunicate.  Her  sister 
colonies  were  forbidden  all  intercourse  with  her ;  and  she 
was  branded  before  their  eyes  as  an  example  of  signal  crimes 
and  speedy  justice. 


But  the  patriots  never  wavered.  Troops  might  obstruct 
the  streets,  war  ships  blockade  the  harbor ;  but  the  committees 
from  the  Boston  town-meetings  pursued  the  even  tenor  of 
their  way.  Relief  from  other  places  was  distributed  ;  work 
for  the  poorest  was  provided  ;  constant  correspondence  was 
maintained  with  all  the  other  colonies.  Everything  was 
done  soberly,  and  in  order.  Gage  and  his  myrmidons  could 
only  look  idly  on,  while  the  town  administered  her  own 
affairs.  Even  during  a  serious  conflagration,  the  services  of 
the  military  were  courteously  declined,  on  the  ground  that 
the  "regulations  of  the  town  rendered  their  assistance  un- 
necessary." For  all  his  influence  in  the  town  of  Boston, 
Gage  might  as  well  have  been  stationed  in  Patagonia. 

It  was  during  the  pause  of  expectation  which  preceded 
these  stringent  acts,  while  news  of  the  reception  in  Eng- 
land of  the  Boston  Tea-Party  was  still  upon  the  water, 
that  Hancock  was  called  upon  to  deliver  the  fourth  oration, 
on  the  anniversary  of  the  fifth  of  March.  Though  of  pleasing 
address  and  winning  manners,  he  was  supposed  to  be  little 
of  a  writer ;  and  his  selection  on  this  occasion  was  rather  a 
tribute  to  the  man  than  to  the  speaker.  But  either  the 
topic  proved  inspiring,  or,  as  was  more  than  suspected  by  his 
friends  and  confidently  asserted  by  his  enemies,  he  received 
some  assistance  in  his  composition  ;  for  the  orator  far  ex- 
ceeded all  expectations,  and  his  speech  was  most  enthusi- 
astically received.  The  church  was  filled  to  overflowing, 
and  among  the  crowd  were  all  the  leading  patriots  of  Bos- 
ton. The  youthful  speaker  addressed  the  assembled  multi- 
tude with  becoming  modesty :  — 

Men,  Brethren,  Fathers,  and  Fellow-Countrymen  :  — 

The  attentive  gravity,  the  venerable  appearance  of  this  crowded  au- 
dience, the  dignity  which  I  behold  in  the  countenances  of  so  many  in  this 
great  assembly,  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion  upon  which  we  have  met 
together  (joined  to  a  consideration  of  the  part  I  am  to  take  in  the  im- 
portant business  of  this  day),  fill  me  with  an  awe  hitherto  unknown,  and 
heighten  the  sense  which  I  have  ever  had  of  my  unworthiness  to  fill  this 
sacred  desk.  .  .  .  And  I  pray  that  my  sincere  attachment  to  the  interest  of 


I 


43 

my  country,  and  hearty  detestation  of  every  design  formed  against  her  lib- 
erties, may  be  admitted  as  some  apology  for  my  appearance  in  this  place. 

.  .  .  Security  to  the  persons  and  properties  of  the  governed,  is  so  obviously 
the  design  and  end  of  civil  government,  that  to  attempt  a  logical  proof  of 
it,  would  be  like  burning  tapers  at  noonday  to  assist  the  sun  in  enlight- 
ening the  world.  And  it  cannot  be  either  virtuous  or  honorable,  to  at- 
tempt to  support  a  government  of  which  this  is  not  the  great  and  prin- 
cipal basis.  And  it  is  to  the  last  degree  vicious  and  infamous  to  attempt 
to  support  a  government  which  manifestly  tends  to  render  the  persons 
and  properties  of  the  governed  insecure.  Some  boast  of  being  friends  to 
government.  I  am  a  friend  to  righteous  government,  —  to  a  government 
founded  upon  the  principles  of  reason  and  justice,  —  but  I  glory  in  pub- 
licly avowing  my  eternal  enmity  to  tyranny.  Is  the  present  system  which 
the  British  administration  have  adopted  for  the  government  of  the  colo- 
nies, a  righteous  government  ?  or  is  it  tyranny  ?  Here  suffer  me  to  ask 
(and  would  to  Heaven  there  could  be  an  answer  I )  what  tenderness,  what 
regard,  respect,  or  consideration,  has  Great  Britain  shown,  in  their  late 
transactions,  for  the  security  of  the  persons  or  properties  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  colonies  ?  or  rather,  what  have  they  omitted  doing  to 
destfoy  that  security?  They  have  declared  that  they  have  ever  had 
(and  of  right  ought  ever  to  have)  full  power  to  make  laws  of  sufficient 
validity  to  bind  the  colonies  in  all  cases  whatever.  They  have  exercised 
this  pretended  right  by  imposing  a  tax  upon  us,  without  our  consent. 
And,  lest  we  should  show  some  reluctance  at  parting  with  our  property, 
her  fleets  and  armies  are  sent  to  enforce  their  mad  pretensions.  The 
town  of  Boston,  ever  faithful  to  the  British  crown,  has  been  invested 
by  a  British  fleet.  The  troops  of  George  III.  have  crossed  the  wide  At- 
lantic, not  to  engage  an  enemy,  but  to  assist  a  band  of  traitors  in  tramp- 1 
ling  on  the  rights  and  liberties  of  his  most  loyal  subjects  in  America, — 
those  rights  and  liberties  which,  as  a  father,  he  ought  ever  to  regard,  and 
as  a  king,  he  is  bound  in  honor  to  defend  from  violations,  even  at  the 
risk  of  his  own  life. 

Let  not  the  history  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Brunswick  inform  pos- 
terity, that  a  king,  descended  from  that  glorious  monarch  George  II.,  once 
sent  his  British  subjects  to  conquer  and  enslave  his  subjects  in  America. 
But  be  perpetual  infamy  entailed  upon  that  villain  who  dared  to  advise 
his  master  to  such  execrable  measures.  For  it  was  easy  to  foresee  the 
consequences  which  so  naturally  followed  upon  sending  troops  into 
America,  to  enforce  obedience  to  acts  of  the  British  parliament  which 
neither  God  nor  man  ever  empowered  them  to  make.  It  was  reasonable 
to  expect  that  troops  who  knew  the  errand  they  were  sent  upon,  would 
treat  the  people  whom  they  were  to  subjugate  with  a  cruelty  and  haugh- 
tiness, which  too  often  buries  the  honorable  character  of  a  soldier  in  the 
disgraceful  name  of   an  unfeeling  ruffian.     The  troops,  upon  their  first 


44 

arrival,  took  possession  of  our  senate  house,  and  pointed  their  cannon 
against  the  judgment  hall,  and  even  continued  them  there  whilst  the 
supreme  court  of  judicature  for  this  province  was  actually  sitting  to  de- 
cide upon  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  the  king's  subjects.  Our  streets 
nightly  resounded  with  the  noise  of  riot  and  debauchery.  Our  peaceful 
citizens  were  hourly  exposed  to  shameful  insults,  and  often  felt  the  effects 
of  their  violence  and  outrage.  But  this  was  not  all.  As  though  they 
thought  it  not  enough  to  violate  our  civil  rights,  they  endeavored  to  de- 
prive us  of  the  enjoyment  of  our  religious  privileges,  to  vitiate  our  morals, 
and  thereby  render  us  deserving  of  destruction.  Hence  the  rude  din  of 
arms  which  broke  in  upon  your  solemn  devotions  in  your  temples,  on  that 
day  hallowed  by  heaven,  and  set  apart  by  God  himself  for  his  peculiar 
worship.  Hence  impious  oaths  and  blasphemies  so  often  tortured  your 
unaccustomed  ear.  .  .  .  Did  not  a  reverence  for  religion  sensibly  decay  ? 
Did  not  our  infants  almost  learn  to  lisp  out  curses  before  they  knew  their 
horrid  import  ?  .  .  . 

.  .  .  But  let  not  the  miscreant  host  vainly  imagine  that  we  feared  their 
arms.  No  I  them  we  despised.  We  dread  nothing  but  slavery.  Death 
is  the  creature  of  a  poltroon's  brains.  It  is  immortality  to  sacrifice  our- 
selves for  the  salvation  of  our  country.  We  fear  not  death.  That  gldbmy 
night,  the  pale-faced  moon,  and  the  affrighted  stars  that  hurried  through 
the  sky,  can  witness  that  we  fear  not  death.  Our  hearts,  which  at  the 
recollection  glow  with  a  rage  that  four  revolving  years  have  scarcely 
taught  us  to  restrain,  can  witness  that  we  fear  not  death.  And  happy  it 
is  for  those  who  dared  to  insult  us,  that  their  naked  bones  are  not  now 
piled  up  an  everlasting  monument  of  Massachusetts'  bravery.  But  they 
retired :  they  fled.     And  in  that  flight  they  found  their  only  safety.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  Standing  armies  are  sometimes  (I  would  by  no  means  say  gener- 
ally, much  less  universally)  composed  of  persons  who  have  rendered 
themselves  unfit  to  live  in  civil  society,  —  who  have  no  other  motives  of 
conduct  than  those  which  a  desire  of  the  present  gratification  of  their 
passions  suggests ;  who  have  no  property  in  any  country ;  men  who  have 
lost  or  given  up  their  own  liberties,  and  envy  those  who  enjoy  liberty; 
who  are  equally  indifferent  to  the  glory  of  a  George  or  a  Lewis ;  who  for 
the  addition  of  one  penny  a  day  to  their  wages,  would  desert  from  the 
Christian  cross,  and  fight  under  the  crescent  of  the  Turkish  sultan.  From 
such  men  as  these,  what  has  not  a  state  to  fear  ?  .  .  . 

But  since  standing  armies  are  so  hurtful  to  a  state,  perhaps  my 
countrymen  may  demand  some  substitute,  some  other  means  of  render- 
ing us  secure  against  the  incursions  of  a  foreign  enemy.  But  can  you  be 
one  moment  at  a  loss  V  Will  not  a  well-disciplined  militia  afford  you 
ample  security  against  foreign  foes  V  We  want  not  courage  :  it  is  disci- 
pline alone  in  which  we  are  exceeded  by  the  most  formidable  troops  that 
ever  trod  the  earth.     Surely  our  hearts  flutter  no  more  at  the  sound  of 


45 

war,  than  did  those  of  the  immortal  band  of  Persia,  the  Macedonian  pha- 
lanx, the  invincible  Roman  legions,  the  Turkish  Janissaries,  the  Gens  des 
Armes  of  France,  or  the  well-known  Grenadiers  of  Britain.  A  well-dis- 
ciplined militia  is  a  safe,  an  honorable  guard  to  a  community  like  this, 
whose  inhabitants  are  by  nature  brave,  and  are  laudably  tenacious  of  that 
freedom  in  which  they  were  born.  From  a  well-regulated  militia  we 
have  nothing  to  fear  :  their  interest  is  the  same  with  that  of  the  state. 
When  a  country  is  invaded,  the  militia  are  ready  to  appear  in  its  defence ; 
they  march  into  the  field  with  that  fortitude  which  a  consciousness  of  the 
justice  of  their  cause  inspires;  they  do  not  jeopard  their  lives  for  a  mas- 
ter who  considers  them  only  as  the  instruments  of  hi3  ambition,  and 
whom  they  regard  only  as  the  daily  dispenser  of  the  scanty  pittance  of 
bread  and  water.  No,  they  fight  for  their  houses,  their  lands,  for  their 
wives,  their  children,  for  all  who  claim  the  tenderest  names,  and  are  held 
dearest  in  their  hearts :  they  fight  for  their  liberty,  and  for  themselves, 
and  for  their  God.  And  let  it  not  offend,  if  I  say  that  no  militia  ever 
appeared  in  more  flourishing  condition  than  that  of  this  province  now 
doth ;  and  pardon  me,  if  I  say  of  this  town  in  particular.  I  mean  not 
to  boast:  I  would  not  excite  envy,  but  manly  emulation.  We  have  all 
one  common  cause :  let  it  therefore  be  our  only  contest,  who  shall  most 
contribute  to  the  security  of  the  liberties  of  America.  And  may  the 
same  kind  Providence  which  has  watched  over  this  country  from  her 
infant  state,  still  enable  us  to  defeat  our  enemies.  I  cannot  here  forbear 
noticing  the  signal  manner  in  which  the  designs  cf  those  who  wish  not 
well  to  us  have  been  discovered.  The  dark  deeds  of  a  treacherous  cabal, 
have  been  brought  to  public  view.  You  now  know  the  serpents  who, 
whilst  cherished  in  your  bosoms,  were  darting  their  envenomed  stings 
into  the  vitals  of  the  constitution.  But  the  representatives  of  the  people 
have  fixed  a  mark  on  those  ungrateful  monsters,  which,  though  it  may 
not  make  them  so  secure  as  Cain  of  old,  yet  renders  them  at  least  as  in- 
famous. Indeed  it  would  be  affrontive  to  the  tutelar  deity  of  this  country 
even  to  despair  of  saving  it  from  all  the  snares  which  human  policy  can  lay. 
True  it  is,  that  the  British  ministry  have  annexed  a  salary  to  the  office 
of  the  governor  of  this  province,  to  be  paid  out  of  a  revenue  raised  in 
America  without  our  consent.  They  have  attempted  to  render  our 
courts  of  justice  the  instruments  of  extending  the  authority  of  acts  of 
the  British  parliament  over  this  colony,  by  making  the  judges  dependent 
on  the  British  administration  for  their  support.  But  this  people  will 
never  be  enslaved  with  their  eyes  open.  The  moment  they  knew  that 
the  governor  was  not  such  a  governor  as  the  charter  of  the  province 
points  out,  he  lost  his  power  of  hurting  them.  They  were  alarmed.  They 
suspected  him,  have  guarded  against  him ;  and  he  has  found  that  a  wise 
and  a  brave  people,  when  they  know  their  danger,  are  fruitful  in  expe- 
dients to  escape  it. 


46 

The  courts  of  judicature  also  so  far  lost  their  dignity,  by  being  sup- 
posed to  be  under  an  undue  influence,  that  our  representatives  thought 
it  absolutely  necessary  to  resolve  that  they  were  bound  to  declare,  that 
they  would  not  receive  any  other  salary  besides  that  which  the  general 
court  should  grant  them  ;  and  if  they  did  not  make  this  declaration,  that 
it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  house  to  impeach  them. 

Great  expectations  were  also  formed  from  the  artful  scheme  of  allow- 
ing the  East  India  Company  to  export  tea  to  America,  upon  their  own 
account.  This  certainly,  had  it  succeeded,  would  have  effected  the  pur- 
pose of  the  contrivers,  and  gratified  the  most  sanguine  wishes  of  our  ad- 
versaries. We  soon  should  have  found  our  trade  in  the  hands  of  foreign- 
ers, and  taxes  imposed  on  everything  which  we  consumed;  nor  would 
it  have  been  strange,  if,  in  a  few  years,  a  company  in  London  should 
have  purchased  an  exclusive  right  of  trading  to  America.  But  their 
plot  was  soon  discovered.  The  people  soon  were  aware  of  the  poison 
which  with  so  much  craft  and  subtilty  had  been  concealed.  Loss  and  dis- 
grace ensued;  and,  perhaps,  this  long-concerted  masterpiece  of  policy 
may  issue  in  the  total  disuse  of  tea,  in  this  country,  which  will  eventually 
be  the  saving  of  the  lives  and  the  estates  of  thousands.  Yet  while  we 
rejoice  that  the  adversary  has  not  hitherto  prevailed  against  us,  let  us  by 
no  means  put  off  the  harness.  Restless  malice  and  disappointed  am- 
bition, will  still  suggest  new  measures  to  our  inveterate  enemies.  There- 
fore let  us  also  be  ready  to  take  the  field  whenever  danger  calls ;  let  us  be 
united,  and  strengthen  the  hands  of  each  other,  by  promoting  a  general 
union  among  us.  Much  has  been  done  by  the  committees  of  correspond- 
ence for  this  and  the  other  towns  of  this  province,  towards  uniting  the 
inhabitants  :  let  them  still  go  on  and  prosper.  Much  has  been  done  by 
the  committees  of  correspondence  for  the  houses  of  assembly,  in  this  and 
our  sister  colonies,  for  uniting  the  inhabitants  of  the  whole  continent,  for 
the  security  of  their  common  interest.  May  success  ever  attend  their 
generous  endeavors.  But  permit  me  here  to  suggest  a  general  congress 
of  deputies,  from  the  several  houses  of  assembly  on  the  continent,  as  the 
most  effectual  method  of  establishing  such  an  union  as  the  present  pos- 
ture of  our  affairs  requires.  At  such  a  congress,  a  firm  foundation  may 
be  laid  for  the  security  of  our  rights  and  liberties ;  a  system  may  be 
formed  for  our  common  safety,  by  a  strict  adherence  to  which,  we  shall 
be  able  to  frustrate  any  attempts  to  overthrow  our  constitution,  restore 
peace  and  harmony  to  America,  and  secure  honor  and  wealth  to  Great 
Britain,  even  against  the  inclinations  of  her  ministers,  whose  duty  it  is 
to  study  her  welfare.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  I  conjure  you  by  all  that  is  dear,i>y  all  that  is  honorable,  by  all  that 
is  sacred,  not  only  that  ye  pray,  but  that  you  act ;  that,  if  necessary,  ye 
fight,  and  even  die,  for  the  prosperity  of  our  Jerusalem.  Break  in  sun- 
der, with  noble  disdain,  the  bonds  with  which  the  Philistines  have  bound 


47 

you.  Suffer  not  yourselves  to  be  betrayed,  by  the  soft  arts  of  luxury  and 
effeminacy,  into  the  pit  digged  for  your  destruction.  Despise  the  glare 
of  wealth.  That  people  who  pay  greater  respect  to  a  wealthy  villain 
thau  to  an  honest  upright  man  in  poverty,  almost  deserve  to  be  enslaved : 
they  plainly  show,  that  wealth,  however  it  may  be  acquired,  is,  in  their 
esteem,  to  be  preferred  to  virtue. 

But  I  thank  God,  that  America  abounds  in  men  who  are  superior  to 
all  temptation,  whom  nothing  can  divert  from  a  steady  pursuit  of  the 
interest  of  their  country;  who  are  at  once  its  ornament  and  safe- 
guard. .  .  . 

I  have  the  most  animating  confidence  that  the  present  noble  strug- 
gle for  liberty,  will  terminate  gloriously  for  America.  And  let  us  play 
the  man  for  our  God,  and  for  the  cities  of  our  God.  While  we  are  using 
the  means  in  our  power,  let  us  humbly  commit  our  righteous  cause  to  the 
great  Lord  of  the  universe,  who  loveth  righteousness  and  hateth  iniquity. 
And  having  secured  the  approbation  of  our  hearts,  by  a  faithful  and  un- 
wearied discharge  of  our  duty  to  our  country,  let  us  joyfully  leave  her 
important  concerns*  in  the  hands  of  Him  who  raiseth  up  and  putteth 
down  the  empires  and  kingdoms  of  the  world  as  he  pleases ;  and  with 
cheerful  submission  to  his  sovereign  will  devoutly  say,  — 

"  Although  the  fig-tree  shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the 
vines ;  the  labor  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  fields  shall  yield  no  meat ; 
the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and  there  shall  be  no  herd  in  the 
stalls,  —  yet  we  will  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  we  will  joy  in  the  God  of  our  sal- 
vation." 

Christopher  Monk,  who  had  been  most  severely  wounded 
in  the  massacre,  was  present ;  and,  as  the  meeting  broke  up, 
a  very  generous  collection  was  taken  for  the  cripple,  whom 
they  designated  as  "a  shocking  monument  of  that  horrid 
transaction."  A  committee,  with  Samuel  Adams  at  their 
head,  was  appointed  to  wait  on  the  orator  with  the  thanks  of 
the  town  for  his  elegant  and  spirited  oration,  and  also  to  re- 
quest a  copy  of  it  for  the  press  ;  and  "the  thanks  of  the  town 
were  unanimously  voted  to  Adams  for  his  good  services  as 
moderator."  The  following  is  a  view  of  the  occasion  from 
across  the  Atlantic  :  — 

"  The  saints  professing  loyalty  and  godliness  in  Boston, 
send  us,  by  every  vessel  from  their  port,  accumulated  proofs 
of  their  treasons  and  rebellions.  That  mighty  wise  patriot, 
Mr.  John  Hancock,  from  the  Old  South  Meeting-house,  has 


48 

lately  repeated  a  hash  of  abusive,  treasonable  stuff,  composed 
for  him  by  the  joint  efforts  of  the  Reverend  Divine,  Samuel 
Cooper,  —  that  Rose  of  Sharon, — and  by  the  very  honest 
Samuel  Adams,  —  Clerk,  Psalm-singer,  purloiner  and  curer 
of  bacon.  The  temper  and  abilities  of  the  rebellious  saints 
in  Boston  are  easily  discoverable  in  Hancock's  oration,  — 
who,  at  his  delivery  of  it,  was  attended  by  most  of  his  maj- 
esty's council,  the  majority  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
the  selectmen,  justices  of  the  peace,  and  the  rest  of  the  re- 
bellious herd  of  calves,  asses,  knaves,  and  fools,  which  com- 
pose the  faction." 

If  the  Boston  Port  Act  was  intended  to  frighten  the  neigh- 
boring colonies  into  submission,  it  failed  signally  of  its  object. 
With  one  accord,  they  hastened  to  testify  their  allegiance  to 
the  common  cause,  and  testify  that  the  sufferings  of  one  were 
the  sufferings  of  all.  Warren's  Solemn  League  and  Coven- 
ant,  suspending  all  commerce  with  Great  Britain,  was  adopted 
throughout  the  continent.  One  military  commander,  having 
openly  declared  that  he  would  commit  the  man  to  jail  who 
should  presume  to  sign  it,  upward  of  a  hundred  persons  im- 
mediately affixed  their  signatures.  "  King  George  had  in- 
deed sowed  dragons'  teeth,  when  he  attempted  to  starve 
the  Bostonians  into  submission." 

The  tories  having  failed  in  all  endeavors  to  purchase  peace 
by  payment  for  the  tea,  now  planned  the  entire  annihilation  of 
the  committee  of  correspondence,  which  had  steadily  organ- 
ized the  resistance.  Warren's  Solemn  League  and  Covenant, 
which  had  been  already  extensively  circulated,  furnished 
them  with  a  battle-field.  Since  town-meetings  were  the  order 
of  the  day,  the  tories  saw  no  reason  why  they  should  not 
have  a  town-meeting  of  their  own ;  and  a  petition  was  pre- 
sented to  the  selectmen,  signed  by  the  requisite  number  of 
citizens.  On  the  twenty-seventh  of  June,  accordingly,  the 
people  assembled  in  great  numbers  at  Faneuil  Hall,  willing 
to  listen  patiently  to  the  arguments  of  their  enemies.  The 
gathering  quickly  swelled  beyond  the  capacity  of  the  hall, 


49 

—  for,  now  that  thousands  were  thrown  out  of  employment, 
every  public  meeting  was  more  than  ever  thronged, — and  the 
lories  shrewdly  argued  that,  with  starvation  staring  the  inhabi- 
tants in  the  (ace,  they  would  be  likely  to  vote  for  the  apparently 
slight  concession  of  paying  for  the  tea,  which  would  throw 
open  the  harbor,  and  abolish  the  distress.  After  Samuel 
Adams  had  been  selected  to  preside,  the  meeting  adjourned 
to  the  Old  South,  where  the  accommodations  were  more  am- 
ple. When  quiet  was  restored  in  the  vast  assemblage,  the 
Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  and  a  number  of  letters,  were 
called  for  by  the  tories,  and  accordingly  read  to  the  meeting, 

—  whereupon  one  of  the  loyalists  proposed  "that  a  vote  of 
censure  be  passed  by  the  town  upon  the  conduct  of  the  com- 
mittee of  correspondence,  and  that  the  said  committee  be 
annihilated ! 

Adams  immediately  left  the  moderator's  seat,  and  desired 
that,  if  the  conduct  of  that  body  was  to  be  considered,  some 
other  person  might  be  appointed  to  the  chair.  Adams  was 
the  father  and  life  of  the  committee  ;  and  to  him  it  fell,  ap- 
propriately, to  defend  it  when  attacked.  He  descended  to 
the  floor  of  the  church,  and  there  the  subject  was  discussed, 
— "  the  gentlemen  in  favor  of  the  motion  being  patiently 
heard.  But,  it  being  dark,  and  these  declaring  that  they  had 
nothing  further  to  offer,  it  was  voted  to  defer  the  considera- 
tion thereof  to  the  adjournment."  The  debate  recommenced 
at  ten  o'clock  the  next  morning.  The  theme  was  particularly 
calculated  to  nerve  Adams  to  the  use  of  all  his  powers.  The 
arguments  brought  forward  by  the  loyalists  for  the  occasion, 
the  appeals  to  the  crowds  of  laboring  men  and  mechanics  to 
ward  off  the  misery  which  had  fallen  upon  their  families, 
needed  to  be  ably  answered.  It  is  deeply  to  be  regretted 
that  only  some  disconnected  fragments  of  his  speech  have 
been  preserved.  He  seems  to  have  illustrated  his  discourse 
by  anecdotes,  as  was  his  wont. 

"  A  Grecian  philosopher,"  he  said,  "  who  was  lying  asleep 
upon  the  grass,  was  aroused  by  the  bite  of  some  animal  upon 
the  palm  of  his  hand.     He  closed  his  hand  suddenly,  as  he 


50 

awoke,  and  found  that  he  had  caught  a  field-mouse.  As  he 
was  examining  the  little  animal  who  dared  to  attack  him,  it 
unexpectedly  bit  him  a  second  time.  He  dropped  it,  and  it 
made  its  escape.  Now,  fellow-citizens,  what  think  you  was 
the  reflection  he  made  upon  this  trifling  circumstance  ?  It 
was  this :  that  there  is  no  animal,  however  weak  and  con- 
temptible, which  cannot  defend  its  own  liberty,  if  it  will  only 
fight  for  it." 

Adams  then  drew  a  picture  of  the  future  greatness  of 
America,  as  she  must  one  day  become  under  the  influx  of 
population  from  Europe,  and  by  her  vast  natural  resources ; 
and  he  pointed  out  a  great  empire  in  the  west,  for  the  resi- 
dence of  millions  yet  unborn,  —  the  posterity  of  those  whose 
privilege  it  was  to  prepare  the  way,  by  their  virtue  and  cour- 
age, for  the  generations  who  were  to  follow. 

"  An  empire  is  rising  in  America, "  he  said.  "  Britain,  by 
her  multiplied  oppressions,  is  accelerating  that  independence 
which  she  dreads.  We  have  a  post  to  maintain,  —  to  desert 
which,  would  entail  upon  us  the  curses  of  posterity.  The 
virtue  of  our  ancestors  inspires  us.  For  my  part,  I  have  been 
wont  to  converse  with  Poverty ;  and  however  disagreeable 
a  companion  she  may  be  thought  by  the  affluent  and  luxu- 
rious, who  were  never  acquainted  with  her,  I  can  live  hap- 
pily with  her  the  remainder  of  my  days,  if  I  can  thereby 
contribute  to  the  redemption  of  my  country.  Our  oppressors 
cannot  force  us  into  submission  by  reducing  us  to  a  state  of 
starvation.  We  can  subsist  independently  of  all  the  world. 
The  real  wants  and  necessities  of  man  are  few.  Nature  has 
bountifully  supplied  us  with  the  means  of  subsistence  ;  and, 
if  all  others  fail,  we  can,  like  our  ancestors,  subsist  on  the 
clams  and  muscles  which  abound  along  our  shore." 

The  town  records  state  that  the  debate,  on  this  second  day, 
was  of  long  continuance;  but,  finally,  the  proposition  was 
put  for  the  annihilation  of  the  committee.  Then  the  assem- 
bly vindicated  itself,  and  routed  the  tory  ranks.  Annihilate 
the  committee  chosen  by  their  own  voice,  and  watching 
over  their  common  welfare  ?     Patience  was  at  last  exhausted  ; 


51 

and  the  defeated  grumblers  listened  to  the  indignant 
vote, — 

"  That  the  town  bear  open  testimony  that  they  are  abun- 
dantly satisfied  of  the  upright  intentions,  and  much  approve 
of  the  honest  zeal  of  the  committee  of  correspondence,  and 
desire  that  they  will  persevere  with  their  usual  activity  and 
firmness,  continuing  steadfast  in  the  way  of  well-doing." 

The  tories  left  the  church  discomfited.  And  so  ended 
the  last  attempt  of  the  administration  party  to  carry  their 
measures  by  legal  means  in  Boston. 

"  The  attempt,"  says  a  writer  in  Rhode  Island,  a  few  weeks 
afterwards,  "  made  by  these  men  to  annihilate  your  com- 
mittee of  correspondence,  was  very  natural.  The  robber 
does  not  wish  to  see  our  property  entirely  secured.  An  en- 
emy, about  to  invade  a  foreign  country,  does  not  wish  to  see 
the  coast  well  guarded,  and  the  country  universally  alarmed. 
These  men,  knowing  that  a  design  was  formed  to  rob  the 
Americans  of  their  property,  hoped  to  share  largely  in  the 
general  plunder  ;  but  they  now  see  that,  by  the  vigilance  and 
fidelity  of  the  several  committees  of  correspondence,  the 
people  are  universally  apprised  of  their  danger,  and  will  soon 
enter  into  such  measures  for  the  common  security  as  will  in- 
fallibly blast  all  their  unjust  expectations." 

The  downfall  of  the  committee  of  ^correspondence  would 
indeed  have  betokened  the  ruin  of  the  patriot  cause.  On 
them  rested  the  hope  of  that  union  throughout  the  colo- 
nies, which  alone  could  yield  success.  At  the  time  of  the 
attack  thus  made  upon  them  in  the  Old  South  Meeting- 
house, the  committee  seems  to  have  consisted  of  Samuel 
Adams,  Joseph  Warren,  William  Molineux,  William  and  Jo- 
seph Greenleaf,  Benjamin  Church,  Thomas  Young,  William 
Powell,  Richard  Boynton,  Nathan  Barber,  and  John  Sweet- 
zer.  These  certainly  are  the  gentlemen  who,  a  few  weeks 
later,  unanimously  voted,  that,  notwithstanding  the  rumors 
of  the  intended  arrest  of  some  of  the  members,  the  com- 
mittee would  continue  to  perform  its  duties,  "  unless  pre- 
vented by  brutal  force." 


52 

The  efforts  of  their  antagonists  had  only  strengthened  the 
power  of  the  body  they  threatened  to  destroy ;  and  the  citi- 
zens of  Boston  went  to  their  homes  resolved  to  suffer  pa- 
tiently the  results  of  isolation,  and  ready  to  ask  with  Adams, 
Whether,  in  case  the  price  must  be  submission,  "all  the  trade 
in  the  province,  whether  consisting  of  spring  or  fall  impor- 
tations, wpuld,  in  the  end,  be  worth  an  oyster-shell  ?  " 


WARREN'S  LAST   ORATION. 


Once  more  the  patriots  designed  to  celebrate  the  Boston 
Massacre.  The  commemoration  Avas  a  public  affront  to  Gage, 
both  as  general  of  the  army,  and  as  governor  of  the  prov- 
ince,—  for  the  subject  of  the  oration  was  the  baleful  effect 
of  standing  armies  in  time  of  peace  ;  and  it  was  to  be  deliv- 
ered in  a  town-meeting,  contrary  to  an  act  of  parliament 
which  he  came  to  Boston  to  enforce.  But  little  cared  the 
Bostonians  for  any  such  restriction.  Since  town-meetings 
were  only  permitted  on  certain  specified  occasions,  those  same 
town-meetings  were  simply  kept  alive  indefinitely  by  adjourn- 
ment, until  the  despairing  general  wrote  that,  for  "  aught  he 
could  see,  one  meeting  might  last  ten  years." 

British  officers  had  publicly  announced  that  it  would  be  at 
the  cost  of  any  man's  life,  to  speak  of  the  Boston  Massacre 
on  this  occasion  ;  and  Joseph  Warren,  therefore,  solicited  for 
himself  the  post  of  danger.  The  offer  was  gladly  hailed  by 
the  popular  leaders. 

"  To-morrow,"  wrote  Samuel  Adams,  "an  oration  is  to  be 
delivered  by  Dr.  Warren.  It  was  thought  best  to  have  an 
experienced  officer  in  the  political  field  on  this  occasion,  as  we 
may  possibly  be  attacked  in  our  trenches."  The  patriots 
looked  forward  to  the  day  with  deep  interest,  and  not  without 
apprehension. 

As  the  anniversary,  this  year,  fell  on  Sunday,  the  commem- 
oration took  place  on  Monday.  Many  people  came  into 
the  town  from  the  country,  to  take  part  in  it ;  and  there  was 
a  "  prodigious  concourse."  In  the  morning  the  citizens,  "  le- 
gally warned  by  an  adjournment  of  the  Port  Bill  meeting," 


54 

assembled  in  Faneuil  Hall,  with  Samuel  Adams  for  the  mod- 
erator, and  transacted  the  usual  business  relative  to  the  selec- 
tion of  the  orator.  It  was  reported  that  the  committee  of 
the  Old  South  Meeting-house  were  willing  it  should  be  used 
on  this  occasion  ;  and  the  town  adjourned  to  meet  at  half 
past  eleven  o'clock  in  the  church.  The  Old  South  was 
crowded.  In  the  pulpit,  which  was  draped  with  black,  were 
the  popular  leaders,  —  Samuel  Adams,  William  Cooper, 
Hancock,  and  the  selectmen.  The  moderator,  observing 
several  British  officers  standing  in  the  aisles,  left  his  chair, 
and  requesting  the  occupants  of  the  front  pews  to  vacate 
them,  courteously  invited  the  strangers  to  occupy  these  seats. 
About  forty  officers,  dressed  in  their  uniforms,  immediately 
filled  these  pews,  and  seated  themselves  upon  the  pulpit 
stairs  and  the  platform  above.  There  they  sat  conspicuously, 
and  listened  to  a  glowing  picture  of  the  injury  which  they 
were  inflicting  on  the  town.  They  were  treated  with  the 
most  punctilious  courtesy.  Should  any  disturbance  arise, 
the  moderator  was  determined  the  towns-people  should  have 
given  no  excuse.  "Always  put  your  enemy  in  the 
wrong  "  was  the  motto  of  Sam  Adams  ;  and  his  practice 
accorded  with  his  precept. 

The  appointed  hour  arrived ;  but  no  orator  made  his  ap- 
pearance. The  audience  manifested  considerable  anxiety. 
The  menaces  of  the  past  weeks  were  recalled,  and  many 
anxious  eyes  were  turned  towards  the  door.  Suddenly,  in 
the  window  behind  the  pulpit,  appeared  the  missing  speaker. 
Prepared  for  violence,  and  fearing  an  affray  should  he  at- 
tempt to  force  an  entrance  through  the  crowded  aisles,  War- 
ren had  procured  a  ladder,  and  taken  his  opponents  by  sur- 
prise. The  astonished  officers  on  the  platform,  seeing  his 
coolness  and  intrepidity,  made  way  for  him  to  pass. 

The  silence  was  oppressive.  "  Each  man  felt  the  palpita- 
tions of  his  own  heart,  and  saw  the  pale,  but  determined  face 
of  his  neighbor.  Warren  and  his  friends  were  prepared  to 
chastise  contumely,  prevent  disgrace,  and  avenge  an  attempt 
at  assassination." 


55 

Amid  "an  awful  stillness  "  the  orator  advanced,  and  began 
in  a  clear,  firm  tone  :  — 


My  Ever  Honored  Fellow-Citizens, — 

It  is  not  without  the  most  humiliating  conviction  of  my  want  of  ability 
that  I  now  appear  before  you ;  but  the  sense  I  have  of  the  obligation  I  am 
under  to  obey  the  calls  of  my  country  at  all  times,  together  with  an  ani- 
mating recollection  of  your  indulgence,  exhibited  upon  so  "many  occa- 
sions, has  induced  me  once  more,  undeserving  as  I  am,  to  throw  myself 
upon  that  candor  which  looks  with  kindness  on  the  feeblest  efforts  of  an 
honest  mind. 

You  will  not  now  expect  the  elegance,  the  learning,  the  fire,  the  en- 
rapturing strains  of  eloquence,  which  charmed  you  when  a  Lovell,  a 
Church,  or  a  Hancock  spake  ;  but  you  will  permit  me  to  say,  that,  with  a 
sincerity  equal  to  theirs,  I  mourn  over  my  bleeding  country.  With  them  I 
weep  at  her  distress,  and  with  them  deeply  resent  the  many  injuries  she 
has  received  from  the  hands  of  cruel  and  unreasonable  men. 

That  personal  freedom  is  the  natural  right  of  every  man ;  and  that 
property,  or  an  exclusive  right  to  dispose  of  what  he  has  honestly  ac- 
quired by  his  own  labor,  necessarily  arises  therefrom,  —  are  truths  which 
common  sense  has  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  contradiction.  And  no 
man  or  body  of  men  can,  without  being  guilty  of  flagrant  injustice, 
claim  a  right  to  dispose  of  the  persons  or  acquisitions  of  any  other  man 
or  body  of  men,  unless  it  can  be  proved  that  such  a  right  has  arisen  from 
some  compact  between  the  parties,  in  which  it  has  been  explicitly  and 
freely  granted. 

If  1  may  be  indulged  in  taking  a  retrospective  view  of  the  first  settle- 
ment of  our  country,  it  will  be  easy  to  determine  with  what  degree  of 
justice  the  late  parliament  of  Great  Britain  have  assumed  the  power  of 
giving  away  that  property  which  the  Americans  have  earned  by  their 
labor. 

Our  fathers,  having  nobly  resolved  never  to  wear  the  yoke  of  despot- 
ism, and  seeing  the  European  world  at  that  time  through  indolence  and 
cowardice  falling  a  prey  to  tyranny,  bravely  threw  themselves  upon  the 
bosom  of  the  ocean,  determined  to  find  a  place  in  which  they  might  en- 
joy their  freedom  or  perish  in  the  glorious  attempt.  Approving  Heaven 
beheld  the  favorite  ark  dancing  upon  the  waves,  and  graciously  preserved 
it  until  the  chosen  families  were  brought  in  safety  to  these  western  re- 
gions. They  found  the  land  swarming  with  savages,  who  threatened 
death  with  every  kind  of  torture.  But  savages  and  death  with  tor- 
ture were  far  less  terrible  than  slavery.  Nothing  was  so  much  the  object 
of  their  abhorrence  as  a  tyrant's  power.  They  knew  that  it  was  more 
safe  to  dwell  with  man  in  his  most  unpolished  state,  than  in  a  country 


56 

where  arbitrary  power  prevails.  Even  anarchy  itself,  that  bugbear  held 
up  by  the  tools  of  power  (though  truly  to  be  deprecated),  is  infinitely  less 
dangerous  to  mankind  than  arbitrary  government.  Anarchy  can  be  but 
of  short  duration ;  for  when  men  are  at  liberty  to  pursue  that  course 
which  is  most  conducive  to  their  own  happiness,  they  will  soon  come  into 
it,  and  from  the  rudest  state  of  nature,  order  and  good  government  must 
soon  arise.  But  tyranny,  when  once  established,  entails  its  curses  on  a 
nation  to  the  latest  period  of  time,  unless  some  daring  genius,  inspired 
by  Heaven  shall,  unappalled  by  danger,  bravely  form  and  execute  the 
arduous  design  of  restoring  liberty  and  life  to  his  enslaved,  murdered 
country. 

The  tools  of  power,  in  every  age,  have  racked  their  inventions  to  justify 
the  few  in  sporting  with  the  happiness  of  the  many ;  and  having  found 
their  sophistry  too  weak  to  hold  mankind  in  bondage,  have  impiously 
dared  to  force  religion,  the  daughter  of  the»king  of  heaven,  to  become  a 
prostitute  in  the  service  of  hell.  They  taught  that  princes,  honored  with 
the  name  of  Christian,  might  bid  defiance  to  the  founder  of  their  faith, 
might  pillage  pagan  countries  and  deluge  them  with  blood,  only  because 
they  boasted  themselves  to  be  the  disciples  of  that  Teacher  who  strictly 
charged  his  followers  to  do  to  others  as  they  would  that  others  should  do 
unto  them. 

This  country,  having  been  discovered  by  an  English  subject,  in  the  year 
1G20,  was  (according  to  the  system  which  the  blind  superstition  of  those 
times  supported)  deemed  the  property  of  the  crown  of  England.  Our 
ancestors,  when  they  resolved  to  quit  their  native  soil,  obtained  from  King 
James  a  grant  of  certain  lands  in  North  America.  This  they  probably 
did  to  silence  the  cavils  of  their  enemies ;  for  it  cannot  be  doubted  but 
they  despised  the  pretended  right  which  he  claimed  thereto.  Certain  it  is 
that  he  might,  with  equal  propriety  and  justice,  have  made  them  a  grant 
of  the  planet  Jupiter.  And  their  subsequent  conduct  plainly  shows,  that 
they  were  too  well  acquainted  with  humanity  and  the  principles  of  natural 
equity  to  suppose  that  the  grant  gave  them  any  right  to  take  possession. 
They  therefore  entered  into  a  treaty  with  the  natives,  and  bought  from 
them  the  lands.  Nor  have  I  ever  yet  obtained  any  information  that  our 
ancestors  ever  pleaded,  or  that  the  natives  ever  regarded  the  grant  from 
the  English  crown.  The  business  was  transacted  by  the  parties  in  the 
same  independent  manner  that  it  would  have  been,  had  neither  of  them 
ever  known  or  heard  of  the  island  of  Great  Britain. 

Having  become  the  honest  proprietors  of  the  soil,  they  immediately 
applied  themselves  to  the  cultivation  of  it ;  and  they  soon  beheld  the  vir- 
gin earth  teeming  with  richest  fruits,  a  grateful  recompense  for  their 
unwearied  toil.  The  fields  began  to  wave  with  ripening  harvests,  and  the 
late  barren  wilderness  was  seen  to  blossom  like  the  rose.  The  savage 
natives  saw  with  wonder  the  delightful  change,  and  quickly  formed  the 


57 

scheme  to  obtain  that,  by  fraud  or  force,  which  nature  meant  as  the  re- 
ward of  industry  alone.  But  the  illustrious  emigrants  soon  convinced 
the  rude  invaders  that  they  were  not  less  ready  to  take  the  field  for  battle 
than  for  labor ;  and  the  insidious  foe  was  driven  from  their  borders  as 
often  as  he  ventured  to  disturb  them.  The  crown  of  England  looked 
with  indifference  on  the  contest.  Our  ancestors  were  left  alone  to  com- 
bat with  the  natives.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  believe  that  it  ever  was 
intended  by  the  one  party  or  expected  by  the  other,  that  the  grantor 
should  defend  and  maintain  the  grantees  in  the  peaceable  possession  of 
the  lands  named  in  the  patents.  And  it  appears  plainly,  from  the  history 
of  those  times,  that  neither  the  prince  nor  the  people  of  England  thought 
themselves  much  interested  in  the  matter.  They  had  not  then  any  idea 
of  a  thousandth  part  of  those  advantages  which  they  since  have,  and  we 
are  most  heartily  willing  they  should  still  continue  to  reap  from  us. 

But  when,  at  an  infinite  expense  of  toil  and  blood,  this  widely  ex- 
tended continent  had  been  cultivated  and  defended,  when  the  hardy  ad- 
venturers justly  expected  that  they  and  their  descendants  should  peaceably 
have  enjoyed  the  harvest  of  those  fields  which  they  had  sown,  and  the  fruit 
of  those  vineyards  which  they  had  planted,  this  country  was  then  thought 
worthy  the  attention  of  the  British  ministry;  and  the  only  justifiable  and 
only  successful  means  of  rendering  the  colonies  serviceable  to  Britain 
were  adopted.  By  an  intercourse  of  friendly  offices,  the  two  countries 
became  so  united  in  affection,  that  they  thought  not  of  any  distinct  or 
separate  interests,  —  they  found  both  countries  flourishing  and  happy. 
Britain  saw  her  commerce  extended  and  her  wealth  increased,  her  lands 
raised  to  an  immense  value,  her  fleets  riding  triumphant  on  the  ocean, 
the  terror  of  her  arms  spreading  to  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  The 
colonist  found  himself  free,  and  thought  himself  secure.  He  dwelt  under 
his  own  vine,  and  under  his  own  fig-tree,  and  had  none  to  make  him 
afraid.  He  knew,  indeed,  that  by  purchasing  the  manufactures  of  Great 
Britain,  he  contributed  to  its  greatness :  he  knew  that  all  the  wealth  that 
his  labor  produced  centred  in  Great  Britain.  But  that,  far  from  exciting 
his  envy,  filled  him  with  the  highest  pleasure :  that  thought  supported 
him  in  all  his  toils.  When  the  business  of  the  day  was  past,  he  solaced 
himself '  with  the  contemplation,  or  perhaps  entertained  his  listening 
family  with  the  recital,  of  some  great,  some  glorious  transaction  which 
shines  conspicuous  in  the  history  of  Britain;  or  perhaps  his  elevated 
fancy  led  him  to  foretell,  with  a,  kind  of  enthusiastic  confidence,  the  glory, 
power,  and  duration  of  an  empire  which  should  extend  from  one  end  of 
the  earth  to  the  other.  He  saw  (or  thought  he  saw)  the  British  nation  risen 
to  a  pitch  of  grandeur  which  cast  a  veil  over  the  Roman  glory,  and  rav- 
ished with  the  prseview,  boasted  a  race  of  British  kings  whose  names 
should  echo  through  those  realms  where  Cyrus,  Alexander,  and  the 
Caesars  were  unknown,  —  princes  for  whom  millions  of  grateful  subjects, 


58 

redeemed  from  slavery  and  pagan  ignorance,  should  with  thankful 
tongues  offer  up  their  prayers  and  praises  to  that  transcendently  great  and 
beneficent  Being  by  whom  kings  reign  and  princes  decree  justice. 

These  pleasing  connections  might  have  continued ;  these  delightsome 
prospects  might  have  been  every  day  extended  ;  and  even  the  reveries  of 
the  most  warm  imagination  might  have  been  realized.  But  unhappily 
for  us,  unhappily  for  Britain,  the  madness  of  an  avaricious  minister  of 
state  has  drawn  a  sable  curtain  over  the  charming  scene,  and  in  its  stead 
has  brought  upon  the  stage  discord,  envy,  hatred,  and  revenge,  with  civil 
war  close  in  their  rear. 

Some  demon,  in  an  evil  hour,  suggested  to  a  short-sighted  financier, 
the  hateful  project  of  transferring  the  whole  property  of  the  king's  sub- 
jects in  America  to  his  subjects  in  Britain.  The  claim  of  the  British 
parliament  to  tax  the  colonies,  can  never  be  supported  but  by  such  a 
transfer;  for  the  right  of  the  House  of  Commons  of  Great  Britain  to 
originate  any  tax,  or  grant  money,  is  altogether  derived  from  their  being 
elected  by  the  people  of  Great  Britain  to  act  for  them.  And  the  people 
of  Great  Britain  cannot  confer  on  their  representatives  a  right  to  give  or 
grant  anything  which  they  themselves  have  not  a  right  to  give  or  grant 
personally.  Therefore  it  follows,  that,  if  the  members  chosen  by  the  peo- 
ple of  Great  Britain  to  represent  them  in  parliament  have,  by  virtue  of 
their  being  so  chosen,  any  right  to  give  or  grant  American  property,  or  to 
lay  any  tax  upon  the  lands  or  persons  of  the  colonists,  it  is  because  the 
lands  and  people  in  the  colonies  are  hona  fide,  owned  by,  and  justly  be- 
longing to,  the  people  of  Great  Britain.  But  (as  has  been  before  ob- 
served) every  man  has  a  right  to  personal  freedom,  consequently  a  right 
to  enjoy  what  is  acquired  by  his  own  labor.  And  as  it  is  evident  that  the 
property  in  this  country  has  been  acquired  by  our  own  labor,  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  people  of  Great  Britian  to  produce  some  compact  in  which 
we  have  explicitly  given  up  to  them  a  right  to  dispose  of  our  persons  or 
property.  Until  this  is  done,  every  attempt  of  theirs,  or  of  those  whom 
they  have  deputed  to  act  for  them,  to  give  or  grant  any  part  of  our  prop- 
erty, is  directly  repugnant  to  every  principle  of  reason  and  natural  justice. 
But  I  may  boldly  say,  that  such  a  compact  never  existed  —  no,  not  even 
in  imagination.  Nevertheless,  the  representatives  of  a  nation  long  famed 
for  justice  and  the  exercise  of  every  noble  virtue  have  been  prevailed  on 
to  adopt  the  fatal  scheme.  And  although  the  dreadful  consequences  of 
this  wicked  policy  have  already  shaken  the  empire  to  its  centre,  yet  still 
it  is  persisted  in.  Regardless  of  the  voice  of  reason,  deaf  to  the  prayers 
and  supplications,  and  unaffected  with  the  flowing  tears  of  suffering  mil- 
lions, the  British  ministry  still  hug  the  darling  idol.  And  every  rolling 
year  affords  fresh  instances  of  the  absurd  devotion  with  which  they  wor- 
ship it.  Alas !  how  has  the  folly,  the  distraction  of  the  British  councils, 
blasted  our  swelling  hopes  and  spread  a  gloom  over  this  western  hemi- 
sphere 1 


59 

The  hearts  of  Britons  and  Americans,  which  lately  felt  the  generous 
glow  of  mutual  confidence  and  love,  now  burn  with  jealousy  and  rage. 
Though  but  of  yesterday,  I  recollect  (deeply  affected  at  the  ill-boding 
change)  the  happy  hours  that  past  whilst  Britain  and  America  rejoiced  in 
the  prosperity  and  greatness  of  each  other.  Heaven  grant  those  halcyon 
days  may  soon  return  I  But  now,  the  Briton  too  often  looks  on  the 
American  with  an  envious  eye,  —  taught  to  consider  his  just  plea  for  the 
enjoyment  of  his  earnings,  as  the  effect  of  pride  and  stubborn  opposition 
to  the  parent  country,  —  whilst  the  American  beholds  the  Briton  as  the 
ruffian,  ready  first  to  take  away  his  property,  and  next  (what  is  still 
dearer  to  every  virtuous  man)  the  liberty  of  his  country. 

"When  the  measures  of  administration  had  disgusted  the  colonies  to  the 
highest  degree,  and  the  people  of  Great  Britain  had,  by  artifice  and  false- 
hood, been  irritated  against  America,  an  army  was  sent  over  to  enforce 
submission  to  certain  acts  of  the  British  parliament,  which  reason  scorned 
to  countenance,  and  which  placemen  and  pensioners  were  found  unable  to 
support. 

Martial  law  and  the  government  of  a  well-regulated  city  are  so  entirely 
different,  that  it  has  always  been  considered  as  improper  to  quarter  troops 
in  populous  cities.  Frequent  disputes  must  necessarily  arise  between  the 
citizen  and  the  soldier,  even  if  no  previous  animosities  subsist.  And  it  is 
further  certain,  from  a  consideration  of  the  nature  of  mankind,  as  well  as 
from  constant  experience,  that  standing  armies  always  endanger  the  lib- 
erty of  the  subject.  But  when  the  people,  on  the  one  part,  considered  the 
army  as  sent  to  enslave  them,  and  the  army,  on  the  other,  were  taught  to 
look  on  the  people  as  in  a  state  of  rebellion,  it  was  but  just  to  fear  the 
most  disagreeable  consequences.  Our  fears,  we  have  seen,  were  but  too 
well  grounded. 

The  many  injuries  offered  to  the  town,  I  pass  over  in  silence.  I 
cannot  now  mark  out  the  path  which  led  to  that  unequalled  scene 
of  horror,  the  sad  remembrance  of  which  takes  the  full  possession  of 
my  soul.  The  sanguinary  theatre  again  opens  itself  to  view.  The 
baleful  images  of  terror  crowd  around  me;  and  discontented  ghosts, 
with  hollow  groans,  appear  to  solemnize  the  anniversary  of  the  fifth 
of  March. 

Approach  we  then  the  melancholy  walk  of  death.  Hither  let  me  call 
the  gay  companion,  —  here  let  him  drop  a  farewell  tear  upon  that  body 
which  so  late  he  saw  vigorous  and  warm  with  social  mirth.  Hither  let 
me  lead  the  tender  mother  to  weep  over  her  beloved  son.  Come,  widowed 
mourner,  —  here  satiate  thy  grief.  Behold  thy  murdered  husband  gasp- 
ing on  the  ground ;  and,  to  complete  the  pompous  show  of  wretchedness, 
bring  in  each  hand  thy  infant  children  to  bewail  their  father's  fate.  Take 
heed,  ye  orphan  babes,  lest  whilst  your  streaming  eyes  are  fixed  upon  the 
ghastly  corpse,  your  feet  slide  on  the  stones  bespattered  with  your  father's 


60 

brains.*  Enough  !  This  tragedy  need  not  be  heightened  by  an  infant 
weltering  in  the  blood  of  him  that  gave  it  birth.  Nature,  reluctant, 
shrinks  already  from  the  view ;  and  the  chilled  blood  rolls  slowly  back- 
ward to  its  fountain.  We  wildly  stare  about,  and  with  amazement  ask, 
Who  spread  this  ruin  round  us  ?  What  wretch  has  dared  deface  the  im- 
age of  his  God?  Has  haughty  France,  or  cruel  Spain,  sent  forth  her 
myrmidons  ?  Has  the  grim  savage  rushed  again  from  the  far  distant  wil- 
derness ?  Or  does  some  fiend,  fierce  from  the  depth  of  hell,  with  all  the 
rancorous  malice  which  the  apostate  damned  can  feel,  twang  her  de- 
structive bow,  and  hurl  her  deadly  arrows  at  our  breast?  No  :  none  of 
these.  But,  how  astonishing !  it  is  the  hand  of  Britain  that  inflicts  the 
wound.  The  arms  of  George,  our  rightful  king,  have  been  employed  to 
shed  that  blood  which  freely  would  have  flowed  when  justice,  or  the  honor 
of  his  crown,  had  called  his  subjects  to  the  field. 

But  pity,  grief,  astonishment,  with  all  the  softer  movements  of  the  soul, 
must  now  give  way  to  stronger  passions.  Say,  fellow-citizens,  what 
dreadful  thought  now  swells  your  heaving  bosoms  ?  You  fly  to  arms ! 
Sharp  indignation  flashes  from  each  eye  ;  revenge  gnashes  her  iron  teeth  ; 
death  grins  an  hideous  smile  (secure  to  drench  his  greedy  jaws  in  human 
gore)  ;  whilst  hovering  furies  darken  all  the  air. 

But  stop,  my  bold,  adventurous  countrymen  :  stain  not  your  weapons 
with  the  blood  of  Britons.  Attend  to  reason's  voice.  Humanity  puts  in 
her  claim,  and  sues  to  be  again  admitted  to  her  wonted  seat,  —  the  bosom 
of  the  brave.  Revenge  is  far  beneath  the  noble  mind.  Many,  perhaps, 
compelled  to  rank  among  the  vile  assassins,  do,  from  their  inmost  souls, 
detest  the  barbarous  action.  The  winged  death,  shot  from  your  arms, 
may  chance  to  pierce  some  breast  that  bleeds  already  for  your  injured 
country. 

The  storm  subsides.  A  solemn  pause  ensues.  You  spare,  upon  condi- 
tion they  depart.  They  go :  they  quit  your  city.  They  no  more  shall 
give  offence.     Thus  closes  the  important  drama. 

And  could  it  have  been  conceived  that  we  again  should  have  seen  a 
British  army  in  our  land,  sent  to  enforce  obedience  to  acts  of  parliament 
destructive  of  our  liberty  ?  But  the  royal  ear,  far  distant  from  this  west- 
ern world,  has  been  assaulted  by  the  tongue  of  slander;  and  villains, 
traitorous  alike  to  king  and  country,  have  prevailed  upon  a  gracious 
prince  to  clothe  his  countenance  with  wrath,  and  to  erect  the  hostile  ban- 
ner against  a  people  ever  affectionate  and  loyal  to  him  and  his  illustrious 
predecessors  of  the  house  of  Hanover.  Our  streets  are  again  filled  with 
armed  men  :  our  harbor  is  crowded  with  ships  of  war.  But  these  cannot 
intimidate  us.     Our  liberty  must  be  preserved.     It  is  far  dearer  than  life. 

*  After  Mr.  Gray  bad  been  sbot  tbrougb  tbe  body,  and  bad  fallen  dead  on  tbe  ground, 
a  bayonet  was  pusbed  tbrougb  bis  skull.  Part  of  tbe  bone  being  broken,  bis  brains  fell 
out  upon  tbe  pavement. 


61 

We  hold  it  even  dear  as  our  allegiance.  We  must  defend  it  against  the 
attacks  of  friends  as  well  as  enemies.  We  cannot  suffer  even  Britons  to 
ravish  it  from  us. 

No  longer  could  we  reflect,  with  generous  pride,  on  the  heroic  actions 
of  our  American  forefathers,  —  no  longer  boast  our  origin  from  that  far- 
famed  island  whose  warlike  sons  have  so  often  drawn  their  well-tried 
swords  to  save  her  from  the  ravages  of  tyranny,  —  could  we,  but  for  a 
moment,  entertain  the  thought  of  giving  up  our  liberty.  The  man  who 
meanly  will  submit  to  wear  a  shackle,  contemns  the  noblest  gift  of 
Heaven,  and  impiously  affronts  the  God  that  made  him  free. 

It  was  a  maxim  of  the  Roman  people,  which  eminently  conduced  to  the 
greatness  of  that  state,  never  to  despair  of  the  commonwealth.  The 
maxim  may  prove  as  salutary  to  us  now,  as  it  did  to  them.  Short-sighted 
mortals  see  not  the  numerous  links  of  small  and  great  events  which  form 
the  chain  on  which  the  fate  of  kings  and  nations  is  suspended.  Ease  and 
prosperity  (though  pleasing  for  a  day)  have  often  sunk  a  people  into 
effeminacy  and  sloth.  Hardships  and  dangers  (though  we  forever  strive 
to  shun  them)  have  frequently  called  forth  such  virtues  as  have  com- 
manded the  applause  and  reverence  of  an  admiring  world.  Our  country 
loudly  calls  you  to  be  circumspect,  vigilant,  active,  and  brave.  Perhaps 
—  all  gracious  Heaven  avert  it!  —  perhaps  the  power  of  Britain,  a  nation 
great  in  war,  by  some  malignant  influence  may  be  employed  to  enslave 
you.  But  let  not  even  this  discourage  you.  Her  arms,  it  is  true,  have 
filled  the  world  with  terror.  Her  troops  have  reaped  the  laurels  of  the 
field.  Her  fleets  have  rode  triumphant  on  the  sea.  And  when  or  where 
did  you,  my  countrymen,  depart  inglorious  from  the  field  of  fight  ?  You, 
too,  can  show  the  trophies  of  your  forefathers'  victories  and  your  own,  — 
can  name  the  fortresses  and  battles  you  have  won.  And  many  of  you 
count  the  honorable  scars  or  wounds  received  whilst  fighting  for  your 
king  and  country. 

Where  justice  is  the  standard,  Heaven  is  the  warrior's  shield.  But 
conscious  guilt  unnerves  the  arm  that  lifts  the  sword  against  the  innocent. 
Britain,  united  with  these  colonies  by  commerce  and  affection,  by  interest 
and  blood,  may  mock  the  threats  of  France  and  Spain,  —  may  be  the  seat 
of  universal  empire.  But  should  America,  either  by  force,  or  those  more 
dangerous  engines  luxury  and  corruption,  ever  be  brought  into  a  state  of 
vassalage,  Britain  must  lose  her  freedom  also.  No  longer  shall  she  sit  the 
empress  of  the  sea.  Her  ships  no  more  shall  waft  her  thunders  over  the 
wide  ocean.  The  wreath  shall  wither  on  her  temples.  Her  weakened  arm 
shall  be  unable  to  defend  her  coasts ;  and  she,  at  last,  must  bow  her  ven- 
erable head  to  some  proud  foreigner's  despotic  rule. 

But  if,  from  past  events,  we  may  venture  to  form  a  judgment  of  the 
future,  we  justly  may  expect  that  the  devices  of  our  enemies  will  but  in- 
crease the  triumphs  of  our  country.     I  must  indulge  a  hope  that  Britain's 


62 

liberty,  as  well  as  ours,  will  eventually  be  preserved  by  the  virtue  of 
America. 

The  attempt  of  the  British  parliament  to  raise  a  revenue  from  America, 
and  our  denial  of  their  right  to  do  it,  have  excited  an  almost  universal 
inquiry  into  the  rights  of  mankind  in  general,  and  of  British  subjects  in 
particular,  —  the  necessary  result  of  which  must  be  such  a  liberality  of 
sentiment,  and  such  a  jealousy  of  those  in  power,  as  will,  better  than  an 
adamantine  wall,  secure  us  against  the  future  approaches  of  despotism. 

The  malice  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill  has  been  defeated  in  a  very  consid- 
erable degree,  by  giving  you  an  opportunity  of  deserving,  and  our  breth- 
ren in  this  and  our  sister  colonies  an  opportunity  of  bestowing,  those 
benefactions  which  have  delighted  your  friends  and  astonished  your  ene- 
mies, not  only  in  America  but  in  Europe  also.  And  what  is  more  valua- 
ble still,  the  sympathetic  feelings  for  a  brother  in  distress,  and  the  grateful 
emotions  excited  in  the  breast  of  him  who  finds  relief,  must  for  ever  en- 
dear each  to  the  other,  and  form  those  indissoluble  bonds  of  friendship 
and  affection  on  which  the  preservation  of  our  rights  so  evidently  de- 
pends. 

The  mutilation  of  our  charter  has  made  every  other  colony  jealous  for 
its  own ;  for  this,  if  once  submitted  to  by  us,  would  set  on  float  the  property 
and  government  of  every  British  settlement  upon  the  continent.  If  char- 
ters are  not  deemed  sacred,  how  miserably  precarious  is  everything 
founded  upon  them! 

Even  the  sending  troops  to  put  these  acts  in  execution,  is  not  without 
advantages  to  us.  The  exactness  and  beauty  of  their  discipline  inspire 
our  youth  with  ardor  in  the  pursuit  of  military  knowledge.  Charles  the 
Invincible,  taught  Peter  the  Great  the  art  of  war.  The  battle  of  Pultowa 
convinced  Charles  of  the  proficiency  Peter  had  made. 

Our  country  is  in  danger,  but  not  to  be  despaired  of.  Our  enemies  are 
numerous  and  powerful.  But  we  have  many  friends  determining  to  be 
free  ;  and  heaven  and  earth  will  aid  the  resolution.  On  you  depend  the 
fortunes  of  America.  You  are  to  decide  the  important  question  on  which 
rest  the  happiness  and  liberty  of  millions  yet  unborn.  Act  worthy  of 
yourselves.  The  faltering  tongue  of  hoary  age  calls  on  you  to  support 
your  country.  The  lisping  infant  raises  its  suppliant  hands,  imploring 
defence  against  the  monster  slavery.  Your  fathers  look  from  their 
celestial  seats  with  smiling  approbation  on  their  sons,  who  boldly  stand 
forth  in  the  cause  of  virtue,  but  sternly  frown  upon  the  inhuman  mis- 
creant, who,  to  secure  the  loaves  and  fishes  to  himself,  would  breed  a  ser- 
pent to  destroy  his  children. 

But  pardon  me,  my  fellow-citizens,  I  know  you  want  not  zeal  or  forti- 
tude. You  will  maintain  your  rights  or  perish  in  the  generous  struggle. 
However  difficult  the  combat,  you  never  will  decline  it  when  freedom  is 
the  prize.     An  independence  of  Great  Britain  is  not  our  aim.     No :  our 


63 

wish  is,  that  Britain  and  the  colonies  may,  like  the  oak  and  ivy,  grow  and 
increase  in  strength  together.  But  whilst  the  infatuated  plan  of  making 
one  part  of  the  empire  slaves  to  the  other  is  persisted  in,  the  interest  and 
safety  of  Britain,  as  well  as  the  colonies,  require  that  the  wise  measures 
recommended  by  the  honorable  the  continental  congress  be  steadily  pur- 
sued,—  whereby  the  unnatural  contest  between  a  parent  honored  and  a 
child  beloved  may  probably  be  brought  to  such  an  issue  as  that  the  peace 
and  happiness  of  both  may  be  established  upon  a  lasting  basis.  But  if 
these  pacific  measures  are  ineffectual,  and  it  appears  that  the  only  way  to 
safety  is  through  fields  of  blood,  I  know  you  will  not  turn  your  faces  from 
your  foes,  but  will,  undauntedly,  press  forward,  until  tyranny  is  trodden 
under  foot,  and  you  have  fixed  your  adored  goddess  Liberty  fast  by  a 
Brunswick's  side  on  the  American  throne. 

You  then,  who  nobly  have  espoused  your  country's  cause ;  who  gener- 
ously have  sacrificed  wealth  and  ease ;  who  have  despised  the  pomp  and 
show  of  tinselled  greatness  ;  refused  the  summons  to  the  festive  board ; 
been  deaf  to  the  alluring  calls  of  luxury  and  mirth ;  who  have  forsaken 
the  downy  pillow  to  keep  your  vigils  by  the  midnight  lamp  for  the  salva- 
tion of  your  invaded  country,  that  you  might  break  the  fowler's  snare 
and  disappoint  the  vulture  of  his  prey,  —  you  then  will  reap  that  harvest 
of  renown  which  you  so  justly  have  deserved.  Your  country  shall  pay 
her  grateful  tribute  of  applause.  Even  the  children  of  your  most  invet- 
erate enemies,  ashamed  to  tell  from  whom  they  sprang,  while  they  in 
secret  curse  their  stupid,  cruel  parents,  shall  join  the  general  voice  of 
gratitude  to  those  who  broke  the  fetters  which  their  fathers  forged. 

Having  redeemed  your  country,  and  secured  the  blessing  to  future  gen- 
erations (who,  fired  by  your  example,  shall  emulate  your  virtues  and  learn 
from  you  the  heavenly  art  of  making  millions  happy),  with  heart-felt  joy, 
with  transports  all  your  own,  you  cry,  "  The  glorious  work  is  done ! "  then 
drop  the  mantle  to  some  young  Elisha,  and  take  your  seats  with  kindred 
spirits  in  your  native  skies. 

Though  some  of  the  officers  groaned  when  the  audience 
applauded,  yet  they  were  generally  quiet  until  the  close  of 
the  oration.  One  of  them,  seated  on  the  pulpit  stairs,  at- 
tempted to  intimidate  Warren  by  holding  up  one  of  his  hands 
with  several  pistol  bullets  in  the  open  palm  ;  but  the  orator, 
without  discontinuing  his  discourse,  dropped  on  them  a  white 
handkerchief.  The  Forty-seventh  regiment,  returning  from 
parade,  passed  the  Old  South ;  and  Col.  Nesbitt,  the  com- 
mander, caused  the  drums  to  beat,  in  hopes  of  drowning  the 
orator's  voice.     Every  move  on  the  part  of  the  royal  troops 


64 

and  of  the  populace,  showed  that  each  was  awaiting  the 
action  of  the  other  for  the  commencement  of  bloodshed. 
But  the  people  were  governed  implicitly  by  the  advice  of 
their  leaders,  and  were  still  faithful  to  the  watchword  of 
their  captain.     They  "  always  put  their  enemy  in  the  wrong" 

On  this  occasion,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  high  hopes 
were  entertained  of  some  successful  interference ;  and  the 
absolute  refusal  of  the  people  to  be  forced  to  take  the  initia- 
tive was,  doubtless,  a  disappointment,  although  one  writer 
attributes  the  failure  to  a  slighter  cause. 

44  The  officers  of  the  army,"  he  says,  "being  highly  in- 
censed by  the  inhabitants  of  Boston  from  many  insults  which 
had  been  offered  them,  and  exasperated  by  the  many  inflam- 
matory preachings  and  orations  delivered  from  the  pulpit, 
resolved  privately  to  take  an  opportunity  to  seize  the  pro- 
moters of  these  discourses,  —  the  principal  of  which  were 
Adams,  Hancock,  and  Dr.  Warren.  The  scheme  was  laid ; 
and  the  young  man  fixed  upon  to  carry  it  into  execution  was 
an  ensign  in  the  army,  who  was  to  give  the  signal  to  the  rest 
by  throwing  an  egg  at  Dr.  Warren  in  the  pulpit.  However, 
the  scheme  was  rendered  abortive  in  the  most  whimsical 
manner ;  for  he  who  was  deputed  to  throw  the  egg,  fell  in 
going  to  the  church,  dislocated   his   knee,  and  broke   the 

egg" 

Doubtless,  the  patriots  of  that  day  would  have  looked  on 
the  accident  as  more  than  whimsical.  It  might  have  ranked 
in  the  records  of  the  Old  South  with  that  other  special 
providence,  in  1746,  when  the  French  fleet,  under  the  Duke 
D'Anville  (destined  for  the  destruction  of  New  England), 
was  wrecked  off  Nova  Scotia,  on  the  day  of  solemn  fasting 
and  prayer  appointed  for  that  emergency,  and  when  Mr. 
Prince  was  praying  most  fervently  that  a  sudden  wind  which 
rattled  against  the  window-panes  might  "frustrate  the  ob- 
jects of  our  enemies,  and  save  the  land  from  conquest  and 
popery." 

But  despite  the  happy  accident  which  befell  the  egg,  the 
meeting  did  not  close  in  perfect  order.    At  the  conclusion  of 


65 

the  oration,  when  it  was  moved  that  an  orator  should  he  ap- 
pointed for  the  ensuing  year,  on  the  anniversary  of  the  horrid 
massacre,  an  officer  standing  in  the  aisle  towards  the  Milk- 
street  door,  turned  on  his  heel  crying,  "  Fie,  fie  !  "  Great  dis- 
turbance ensued,  some  taking  it  for  an  alarm,  others  for  a 
command  to  the  soldiers  to  fire ;  but  the  town  clerk  (who 
sat  under  the  pulpit),  with  his  mallet  speedily  commanded 
attention,  and  the  audience  was  quieted  by  Samuel  Adams, 
who  assured  them  that  there  was  "  no  fire  but  that  of  liberty, 
which  was  burning  in  their  bosoms." 

"  The  assembly,"  said  Adams,  "  was  irritated  to  the  great- 
est degree,  and  confusion  ensued.  The  officers,  however, 
did  not  gain  their  end,  which  was  apparently  to  break  up  the 
meeting  ;  for  order  was  soon  restored,  and  we  proceeded  reg- 
ularly and  finished  the  business.  It  was  provoking  enough 
to  the  whole  corps,  that,  while  there  were  so  many  troops 
stationed  here  with  the  design  of  suppressing  town-meetings, 
there  should  yet  be  one  for  the  purpose  of  delivering  an  ora- 
tion to  commemorate  a  massacre  perpetrated  by  soldiers,  and 
to  show  the  danger  of  standing  armies." 

"  The  scene  was  sublime,"  said  Samuel  L.  Knapp.  "  There 
was  in  this  appeal  to  Britain,  in  this  description  of  suffering, 
dying,  and  horror,  a  calm  and  high-souled  defiance  which 
must  have  chilled  the  blood  of  every  sensible  foe.  Such  an- 
other hour  has  seldomed  happened  in  the  history  of  man,  and 
is  not  surpassed  in  the  records  of  nations.  The  thunders  of 
Demosthenes  rolled  at  a  distance  from  Philip  and  his  host ; 
and  Tully  poured  the  fiercest  torrent  of  invective  when  Cat- 
aline  was  at  a  distance,  and  his  dagger  no  longer  to  be 
feared.  But  Warren's  speech  was  made  to  proud  oppressors 
resting  on  their  arms,  whose  errand  it  was  to  overawe  and 
whose  business  it  was  to  fight.  If  the  deed  of  Brutus  de- 
served to  be  commemorated  by  history,  poetry,  painting,  and 
sculpture,  should  not  this  instance  of  patriotism  and  bravery 
be  held  in  lasting  remembrance  ?     If  he  — 

" '  That  struck  the  foremost  man  of  all  this  world '  — 


was  hailed  as  first  of  freemen,  what  honors  are  not  due  to 
him  who  undismayed  bearded  the  British  lion,  to  show  the 
world  what  his  country  dared  to  do  in  the  cause  of  liberty  ? 
If  the  statue  of  Brutus  was  placed  among  the  gods  who  were 
the  preservers  of  Koman  freedom,  should  not  that  of  Warren 
fill  a  lofty  niche  in  the  temple  reared  to  perpetuate  the  re- 
membrance of  our  birth  as  a  nation  ?  " 


67 


THE   DESECRATION   OF  THE   CHURCH. 


Six  weeks  after  the  memorable  gathering  in  the  Old  South 
Church,  the  smouldering  flames  broke  forth.  Adams  and 
his  followers  were  successful.  The  colonists  were  not  the 
first  aggressors.  They  had  "  put  their  enemies  in  the  wrong." 
The  attempt  to  seize  the  provincial  stores  at  Concord,  roused 
the  continent  to  armed  resistance ;  but,  as  before,  Boston 
was  still  the  greatest  sufferer. 

The  fate  of  the  Old  South  Church  during  the  siege  of 
Boston  needs  scarcely  to  be  retold.  It  is  recorded  on  the 
building  itself,  where  all  who  pass  can  read.  The  British 
troops  had,  from  the  outset,  displayed  a  strong  propensity  to 
irritate  and  shock  the  religious  feelings  of  the  community. 
Even  before  the  siege,  loud  complaints  had  been  made  of  the 
habit  of  playing  secular  tunes  during  the  hours  of  religious 
service,  and  the  band  had  given  especial  offence  by  sounding 
"  Yankee  Doodle  "  as  the  towns-people  plodded  their  sober 
way  to  church.  Scarcely  had  hostilities  commenced,  when  a 
new  outrage  to  the  feelings  of  the  community  was  perpe- 
trated. The  Old  South  Meeting-house,  which  had  so  long 
re-echoed  with  the  words  of  the  most  saintly  of  the  colonists, 
and  which  was  endeared  to  every  citizen  within  the  town, 
must  fall  the  victim.  It  was,  doubtless,  great  satisfaction  to 
the  British  troops  who  had  so  lately  been  held  up  to  open 
contempt  within  these  sacred  walls,  to  find  the  sanctuary  of 
their  condemners  at  length  within  their  grasp.  Pews  and 
pulpit  were  removed  and  burnt,  about  a  foot  of  earth  and 
gravel  was  spread  upon  the  floor,  and  the  building  turned 
into  a  riding-school.     A  leaping-bar,  ten  feet  long  and  four 


68 

feet  high,  was  put  up  for  practice,  from  the  first  window 
west  from  the  Milk-street  door.  The  eastern  gallery  was 
reserved  for  spectators  of  the  feats  of  horsemanship,  while 
refreshments  were  provided  in  the  gallery  below. 

That  it  was  not  the  necessities  of  war  which  prompted  this 
desecration,  was  sufficiently  established  by  the  manner  in 
which  the  mutilations  were  accomplished.  The  beautiful 
carved  pew  of  Deacon  Hubbard  was  selected  for  a  pre-emi- 
nence in  ignominy,  which  might  equal  the  owner's  promi- 
nence among  his  fellow-worshippers.  With  all  its  silken 
hangings,  it  was  carried  off  by  a  British  officer  and  converted 
into  a  pig-sty.  Some  valuable  books  and  manuscripts,  be- 
longing to  the  library  of  Dr.  Prince,  are  said  to  have  been 
burnt ;  and  the  parsonage  house,  the  old  original  mansion  of 
Gov.  Winthrop,  was  destroyed.  The  sycamore-trees  perished 
likewise,  which  had  always  skirted  the  grass-plot  in  front. 
The  occupation  of  the  Old  South  was  at  the  instance  of  Sir 
John  Burgoyne  ;  and  it  was  his  regiment  of  the  Queen's 
Light  Dragoons  which  completed  the  mutilation. 

The  indignation  of  the  towns-people  must  have  been  ex- 
treme ;  and  one  good  old  woman,  in  especial,  who  frequently 
passed  the  church,  was  in  the  habit  of  stopping  at  the  door, 
and  with  loud  lamentations,  amid  the  hootings  of  the  soldiery, 
bewailing  "  the  desolation  of  the  house  of  prayer."  She  de- 
nounced on  the  scornful  soldiers  the  vengeance  of  Heaven ; 
and  in  her  wrath  she  threatened  that  good  old  Dr.  Sewall  him- 
self would  rise  from  his  grave,  and  carry  off  those  who  thus 
dishonored  his  church.  One  night,  as  a  Scotch  sentinel  was 
keeping  guard,  the  spectre  she  had  evoked  appeared,  to  fulfil 
its  mission.  The  horror-stricken  soldier  screamed  in  agony, 
and  his  cries  awoke  the  guard  at  the  Province  House  across 
the  way.  No  ghost  was  seen  by  the  new  comers  ;  but  the 
terrified  Scotchman  was  frightened  beyond  recovery.  There 
was  no  pacifying  him  until  some  one  asked  how  the  doctor 
was  dressed,  and  it  was  discovered  that  the  spectre  had  ap- 
peared with  a  large  wig  and  gown.  Fortunately  for  the  sen- 
tinel's future  night-watches,  one  of  the  towns-people  was 


69 

able  to  assure  him  that  the  apparition  could  not  have  been 
the  doctor,  as  he  never  had  worn  a  wig ;  and  this  restored 
the  poor  fellow  to  his  senses.  It  was  supposed  to  have 
been  a  trick  of  a  comrade,  who  wished  to  frighten  a  super- 
stitious Scotchman,  and  for  that  purpose  dressed  himself 
in  the  clerical  robes  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cooke  of  Metonomy, 
which  he  had  plundered  on  his  retreat  at  the  battle  of 
Lexington. 

Once  more  the  anniversary  of  the  Boston  Massacre  ap- 
proached ;  and  the  church  in  which  the  day  had  been  so  often 
commemorated  was  in  its  direst  desolation.  The  sound  of 
hurrying  hoofs  had  replaced  the  scathing  words  of  Warren  ; 
and  British  soldiers  panted  to  revenge  their  humiliation  of 
the  previous  year,  by  feats  of  daring  horsemanship.  But  the 
morning  sun  taught  them  a  different  lesson.  The  patriots 
who  could  not  commemorate  their  accustomed  day  within 
the  walls  of  their  ancient  temple,  had  chosen  another  cele- 
bration. At  dawn,  the  bristling  heights  of  Dorchester  com- 
manded the  town,  and  compelled  the  bewildered  soldiery 
to  evacuate  it.  There  was  little  thought  of  horseman- 
ship or  revelry  in  the  Old  South  Church  upon  that  fifth 
of  March. 

When,  a  fortnight  later,  Washington  entered  the  rescued 
town,  his  earliest  pilgrimage  was  to  the  Old  South  Church. 
There,  standing  in  the  eastern  gallery,  he  lookecf  sadly  down 
on  all  the  wreck  below,  and  reverently  said  that  it  was 
"  strange  that  the  British,  who  so  venerated  their  own 
churches,  should  thus  have  desecrated  ours." 

Scarcely  a  century  has  passed  away,  and  yet  these  walls 
have  witnessed  a  stranger  desecration  than  any  occupation  by 
foreign  troops.  But  not  until  our  prosperous  days  did  it 
sutler  its  sad  disgrace.  When,  in  1861,  the  rebel  guns  fired 
upon  the  flag  at  Sumpter  and  roused  the  sleeping  land,  — 
where  was  it  but  in  the  Old  South  Church  that  Boston  raised 
those  stars  and  stripes  to  highest  honor  ?  Ready  indeed  were 
its  possessors  then  to  claim  its  proud  pre-eminence.     Listen 


70 

to  the  words  of  its  pastor  and  standing  committee  on  that 
day:  — 

"In  this  sad  crisis  in  our  nation's  history,  when  treason  and  rebellion  are 
abroad  in  our  land,  it  has  occurred  to  all  of  us  connected  with  this  so- 
ciety, that  the  banner  of  our  fathers  should  float  from  this  renowned 
building.  Where  better  than  on  this  consecrated  spot  should  the  national 
emblem  be  displayed  ?  In  the  dark  and  stormy  times  of  our  revolution- 
ary history,  it  was  within  the  consecrated  walls  of  this  Old  South  Church 
that  our  patriotic  fathers  were  accustomed  to  assemble  and  take  counsel 
together.  Here  Warren  and  Hancock  and  the  Adamses,  and  their  asso- 
ciates, met  and  poured  out  their  indignant  protest  against  British  oppres- 
sion. Here,  within  a  few  feet  of  where  we  stand,  Benjamin  Franklin  was 
born.  Let  us  then,  in  memory  of  the  past  and  in  hope  and  faith  in  the 
future,  but  above  all  relying  upon  the  favor  of  Heaven,  reverently  throw 
our  national  flag  to  the  breeze,  and  invoke  upon  it  the  blessing  of 
almighty  God !  .  .  . 

"  And  as  it  is  befitting  that  Christianity  should  embrace  the  Ameri- 
can ensign  to-day,  so  it  seems  hardly  less  proper  that  the  Old  South, 
of  all  the  churches  in  New  England,  should  be  delegated  for  this  touching 
ceremony.  She  is  not  the  oldest,  but  certainly  the  most  historic  of  them 
all.  The  history  of  the  nation  cannot  be  separated  from  hers,  —  the  two 
are  inseparably  intertwined.  Within  a  few  yards  of  us,  John  Winthrop 
lived  and  died ;  and  his  mansion  was  occupied  by  ministers  of  this  church 
until  destroyed  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  From  his  family, 
these  grounds  passed  into  the  possession  of  John  Norton,  the  celebrated 
divine ;  and  by  him  they  were  given  to  the  church,  for  the  twofold  object 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

"  The  State  House  and  this  sanctuary  have  been  called  the  Moses  and 
Aaron  of  New-England  freemen.  Here  the  citizens  of  Boston,  after  the 
tragedy  of  March  5,  1770,  met  to  denounce  standing  armies,  and  to  de- 
mand the  removal  of  the  English  troops,  —  a  meeting  which  grew  to  be 
an  annual  custom,  under  the  direction  of  the  selectmen,  and  which  was 
really  the  origin  of  our  present  municipal  observance  of  the  Fourth  of 
July.  Echoes  of  the  eloquence  of  Samuel  Adams,  Otis,  and  Hancock, 
sleep  within  these  walls,  —  eloquence  which  gave  birth  to  the  American 
republic,  and  which  seems  to  be  blossoming  out  and  rousing  us  as  it  did 
our  fathers,  in  the  starry  folds  now  floating  overhead. 

"  Hither  Warren  came,  and  climbed  in  through  that  window  into  the 
pulpit,  on  that  memorable  day  when  no  other  citizen  dared  address  the 
people,  —  when  none  but  those  who  loved  liberty  more  than  life  ventured 
to  be  his  auditors,  —  while  the  king's  troops,  fully  armed,  thronged  the 
aisles  and  pulpit  steps.  This  building  has  served  as  an  exercise-ground 
for  horsemen,  who  sought  to  conquer  the  immortal  emblem  above  us. 


71 

The  horse  and  his  rider  have  perished,  while  the  temple  they  profaned 
still  stands,  and  the  flag  they  hated  still  waves  on  high  ! 

"  The  sanctuary  which  gave  its  sacred  waters  to  the  brow  of  Franklin, 
this  day  dedicates  and  baptizes,  in  the  name  of  the  triune  God,  the  symbol 
which  that  matchless  diplomatist  lured  from  the  unwilling  hands  of  kings, 
and  which  he  taught  the  nations  to  fear  and  to  admire.  We  welcome 
thee  back  to  thy  natal  spot,  —  to  the  Puritan  church  where  thou  wert 
born,  —  flag  of  the  free  ! " 


72 


THE   LAST   OF  THE   TOWN-MEETINGS. 


The  story  of  the  present  crisis  is  yet  unwritten,  —  per- 
chance it  may  ever  remain  so,  — but  men  still  tremble  at  the 
danger  so  narrowly  averted.  The  people  of  to-day  will  not 
speedily  forget  the  perils  they  have  witnessed,  or  the  hair- 
breadth nature  of  the  escape. 

tWhen,  in  the  great  Boston  fire,  the  flames  flared  up 
around  the  ancient  walls,  our  firemen  labored  like  heroes. 
"We  must  save  the  Old  South!"  was  the  cry,  as  they 
charged  where  the  burning  tide  was  fiercest.  And  the  Old 
South  stood ;  her  steeple  still  towered  high  above  the  black- 
ened ruins ;  and  while  Boston  mourned  her  stately  piles 
laid  low,  one  voice  of  glad  thanksgiving  arose  throughout 
the  land.  \ 

Little  we  knew  the  future.  That  very  month,  the  guard- 
ians of  that  hallowed  spot  were  bartering  their  birthright. 
Those  sacred  walls  which,  a  dozen  years  before,  they  had 
deemed  of  priceless  value,  they  now  are  anxious  to  resign, — 
and  to  resign  for  any  purpose,  however  unbefitting.  It  was 
for  a  postofhce  that  they  delivered  up  the  church,  and  them- 
selves emulated  the  desecration  whose  record  they  had  in- 
scribed upon  their  walls  in  holy  horror. 

Of  them  and  of  their  course  we  can  be  silent.  Their  de- 
sertion might  have  been  forgiven  ;  their  motives  might  even 
have  been  respected ;  and  their  verdict  has  been  written  by 
themselves.  When  Boston  shall  have  redeemed  her  birth- 
right, she  will  remember  that  their  aid  alone  is  absent,  their 
hands  alone  have  hindered  where  they  might  have  helped. 
They  have  had  their  opportunity,  and  they  have  lost  it!  We 
can  leave  the  rest  to  time. 


73 

Yet  in  justice  to  our  native  city,  let  it  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  desertion  was  not  unanimous.  Nearly  half  the  society 
voted  most  resolutely  against  the  lease,  and  for  two  years 
contended  for  the  preservation  of  the  church  before  the 
legislature  and  in  the  courts.  Within  five  weeks  after  the 
power  was  given,  the  last  dishonor  was  suffered.  The  Old 
South  Meeting-house  was  advertised  for  sale  as  bricks  and 
mortar,  and  for  thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  knocked 
off  to  the  highest  bidder ! 

The  indignation  of  the  town  broke  forth,  now  the  last 
hour  was  come.  Possession  for  seven  days  was  purchased, 
the  Old  Church  was  dressed  with  flags,  and  an  hour  ap- 
pointed for  one  last  struggle  to  preserve  its  honored  walls. 
The  church  was  crowded  to  overflowing ;  and  the  affection 
of  the  town  for  her  old  rallying-ground  was  settled  beyond 
dispute.  The  committee  appointed  by  their  fellow-citizens 
undertook  the  sacred  charge.  Under  many  difficulties,  they 
have  been  at  last  so  far  successful  as  to  place  it  in  friendly 
hands,  where  it  is  held  until  the  public  can  redeem  it. 

Those  who  deemed  the  task  Quixotic,  and  predicted  fail- 
ure for  the  attempt,  had  forgotten  the  lesson  taught  of  old 
to  Hutchinson  and  Gage,  —  that  a  Boston  town-meeting 
always  means  to  compass  what  it  undertakes  whenever  it 
assembles  in  the  Old  South  Church. 


q  3 


DATE  DUE 

'  t 

'  ' 

2001 

'  . 

UNIVERSITY  PRODUCTS,  INC.    #859-5503 


BOSTON  COLLEGE 


3  9031   01565751   3 


54014 


Date  Due 


-1  1971 


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